Ali Abdullah Ahmed - NCIS Report

NCIS Report

On August 23, 2008 Josh White writing in the Washington Post reported the paper had received 3,000 pages of documents arising from the NCIS investigation through Freedom of Information Act requests. He reported that the NCIS report attributed the deaths to lapses on the part of the guards, and to a policy of leniency for the compliant captives.

The report said the deaths were in Camp 1, which has now been closed, a camp for compliant captives, and that the men's bodies were masked by laundry they were allowed to hang up to dry.

The NCIS report identified the dead Yemeni as "Ali Abdullah Ahmed Naser al-Sullami". It quoted from what it claimed was his suicide note:

"I am informing you that I gave away the precious thing that I have in which it became very cheap, which is my own self, to lift up the oppression that is upon us through the American Government. I did not like the tube in my mouth, now go ahead and accept the rope in my neck."

The Washington Post was able to quote from what it described as a "previously secret" document which stated:

"Although many of the individuals apprehended during the raid have strong connections to al Qaeda, there is no credible information to suggest Ahmed received terrorist related training or is a member of the al Qaeda network."

The Washington Post quoted the initial reaction of his lawyer David Englehart to the documents' release:

"It's simply astounding that it took the government over two years to conclude a so-called investigation of three men who died in a small cage under the government's exclusive control. The investigation itself is what needs to be investigated, along with the people who've perpetrated the disgraceful, extra-constitutional detentions."