Hassan Ghul - Statements About His Capture

Statements About His Capture

Following his capture, Fox News reported that he had been an al-Qaeda member since the very beginning of the group, at least ten years earlier, and was widely known as The Gatekeeper "in terrorist circles", although no corroboration or other sources have supported these claims. There have been similarly unreferenced suggestions in the media that Ghul played a role in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa.

Three days after his capture, Ghul was mentioned in a speech by President George W. Bush:

Just yesterday -- not yesterday -- just last week, we made further progress in making America more secure when a fellow named Hassan Ghul was captured in Iraq. Hassan Ghul was a -- reported directly to Khalid Shaik Muhammad, who was the mastermind of the September the 11th attacks. He was a killer. He was moving money and messages around South Asia and the Middle East to other al-Qaeda leaders. He was a part of this network of haters that we're dismantling. Our intelligence officers did a good job. He was captured in Iraq where he was helping al-Qaeda to put pressure on our troops. There is one less enemy we have to worry about with the capture of Hassan Ghul.

Six days after his capture, U.S. General Ricardo Sanchez referred to Ghul stating "The capture of Ghul is pretty strong proof that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold to continue their murderous campaigns" CIA Director George Tenet mentioned Ghul in his testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as an al-Qaeda member who would "never again threaten the American people", after allegedly being "sent to case Iraq for an expanded al-Qaeda presence there" Columnist William Safire claimed it was a "smoking gun" that proved a link between Iraq and al-Qaeda.

Since then, Ghul has been a ghost detainee, his very existence was unacknowledged. In June 2007, he was one of 39 people cited in a joint release by HRW, Cageprisoners, Center for Constitutional Rights and the New York University School of Law as prisoners who have not been accounted for, and are likely held in secret CIA Black sites.