Algerian Six - The USA Drops The Allegation of A Plot To Bomb The US Embassy in Sarajevo

The USA Drops The Allegation of A Plot To Bomb The US Embassy in Sarajevo

The Washington Post published a profile of the six Bosnians. The profile reported that the allegations the men faced during their Administrative Review Board hearings dropped the accusation that the men had been plotting to bomb the US embassy in Sarajevo.

The article reports the speculation that the men remain in detention because the Bush administration is unwilling to undergo the embarrassment of admitting it held the men for four years and never had any real evidence against them.

The article reports some of the new justifications Guantanamo intelligence analysts offered for continuing to detain the men following the abandonment of the claim the men plotted to bomb the US embassy, including:

• Mustafa Idr had taught Karate to Bosnian orphans.
• Another detainee, during his compulsory military service, when he still lived in Algeria, over ten years ago, had served as an army cook.
• "Boudella was accused ... of joining bin Laden and Taliban fighters at Tora Bora, Afghanistan,... in December 2001. In fact, at the time, Boudella was locked up thousands of miles away in Sarajevo, after his arrest in the later-discredited embassy plot."
• A ring Boudella wore a ring "similar to those that identified the Red Rose Group members of Hamas," Boudella's wife has obtained an affidavit from the jeweller where the ring was purchased, explaining that this style of ring is extremely popular in Bosnia.

The article reports a confusing story of Bush administration negotiators trying to secure face-saving deals with Bosnia and Algeria. According to the article:

• "U.S. officials have pressed Algeria to take back the prisoners on the condition that they be confined or kept under surveillance there. So far, the Algerian government has balked."
• "Senior Bosnian officials said they have been told by U.S. diplomats that the six Algerians will never be allowed to return to Bosnia, which had granted dual citizenship to most of the men before their seizure. Instead, U.S. officials have pressed Algeria to take back the prisoners on the condition that they be confined or kept under surveillance there."
• Bosnian Prime Minister Adnan Terzic requested Condoleezza Rice arrange the return of the men in a letter dated February 2, 2005.
• On March 17, 2005 Rice replied the men could not be freed because "they still possess important intelligence data." Rice also said they still represent a threat to the USA.
• "Three months later, the State Department offered a somewhat different explanation.., Matthew A. Reynolds, acting assistant secretary for legislative affairs, explained that the Algerians could not be released in part because the Bosnian government 'has not indicated that it is prepared or willing to accept responsibility for them upon transfer'."
• "Justice Minister Slobodan Kovac said there would be no legal basis to place the men under arrest or surveillance if they were returned to Bosnia because they have already been exonerated there. 'There is no case against them here in Bosnia, no criminal case,' he said."

The article points out that even though the Bush administration has declined to discuss any real evidence they may have against the men that Lieutenant Commander J.D. Gordon stated:

"There was no mistake in originally detaining these individuals as enemy combatants. Their detention was directly related to their combat activities as determined by an appropriate Defense Department official before they were ever transferred to Guantanamo."