Americas

Pentagon sends Somalian captive to Guantanamo

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-06-07 05:03

The Pentagon said Wednesday that it has sent another "high-value" captive -- a Somalian terror suspect -- to the prison at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A Pentagon announcement described the latest captive to arrive at the remote U.S. base -- Abdullahi Sudi Arale -- as a suspected al Qaeda member from East Africa who had served as a network courier between the Horn of Africa and Pakistan.

It accused him of running guns and explosives and trafficking in counterfeit documents to help foreign fighters get into Somalia.

The announcement also said Arale had been in Pakistan until eight months ago, when he returned to Somalia.

He has reportedly held a leadership role in the Somali Council of Islamic Courts.

The United States considers the Somali Council in league with al Qaeda, arguing that it has given sanctuary to both al Qaeda members and sympathizers.

The Pentagon's decision to send the new captive to Guantanamo appears to be part of a recent emphasis on tilting interrogation toward the Horn of Africa, at times considered a hotbed of terrorism.

Meanwhile, Pentagon said the arrival of the latest captive raised the Guantanamo detainee population to "approximately 385."