| Ammar al-Balushi | |
|---|---|
.png) al-Baluchi circa 2004 at a CIA black site | |
| Born | Ali Abdul Aziz Ali 29 August 1977[1] Al Ahmadi, Kuwait |
| Arrested | 29 April 2003 Karachi, Pakistan |
| Citizenship | Pakistani |
| Detained at | Guantánamo Bay, Cuba |
| ISN | 10018 |
| Occupation | Computer technician |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives |
|
Ammar al-Balushi or Amar Baloch; born Ali Abdul Aziz Ali on 29 August 1977) is a Pakistani (Balochi) citizen who has been in American custody at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2006.[2] He was arrested in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2003 before being transferred;[3][4][5][6] the series of criminal charges against him include: "facilitating the 9/11 attackers, acting as a courier for Osama bin Laden and plotting to crash a plane packed with explosives into the U.S. consulate in Karachi."[7] He is a nephew of the Pakistani terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who served as a senior official of al-Qaeda between the late 1980s and early 2000s; and a cousin of the Pakistani terrorist Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who played a key role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Philippine Airlines Flight 434 bombing, and the high-profile Bojinka plot.
American authorities have stated that Baluchi was a "key lieutenant" of Mohammed during al-Qaeda's preparation for the 9/11 attacks,[8] and that he had told investigators that he had sought help in al-Qaeda's efforts to develop biological weapons to use against enemy forces and other targets.[9] Baluchi's ex-wife Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani cognitive neuroscientist, was arrested by Afghan police in Ghazni Province in 2008 and subsequently transferred to American custody at FMC Carswell, where she remains incarcerated on terrorism charges.[9][10] Siddiqui's family has denied that she was ever married to Baluchi, but the marriage has been attested by Pakistani and American intelligence personnel, Mohammed, and Siddiqui herself.
After being arrested in Karachi, Baluch was transferred to Afghanistan and detained at the Salt Pit, a now-defunct CIA black site near Bagram Airfield. It has been reported that he was tortured extensively, being used as a "training prop" to teach enhanced interrogation techniques to new agents; trainees took turns shoving his head into a wall in sessions that lasted for hours, inflicting considerable brain damage. He was also doused with icy water and kept in stress positions, though these techniques ultimately failed to contribute to the acquisition of any useful intelligence.[11][2] In 2018, the United Nations released a public announcement stating that Baluchi's ongoing captivity "breaches human rights law" and called on American authorities to immediately end his arbitrary detention.[12]
- ^ "JTF-GTMO Detainee Assessment for Ammar al-Baluchi" (PDF). 8 December 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2022 – via The New York Times.
- ^ a b Miller, Greg; Goldman, Adam; Nakashima, Ellen. "CIA misled on interrogation program, Senate report says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
- ^ "Loading..."
- ^ Shannon, Elaine. Time, Al-Qaeda Moneyman Caught, 1 May 2003
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Guantanamo 9/11 suspects on trial". BBC News. 6 June 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2008.
- ^ "Guantánamo files paint Aafia Siddiqui as top al-Qaida operative". The Guardian. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
commwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Scroggins, Wanted Women, 2012: p.246
- ^ "USA: Amnesty International to observe the trial of Dr Aafia Siddiqui" (PDF). Amnesty International. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "OHCHR | Guantanamo detention of Ammar al Baluchi breaches human rights law, UN experts say". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2 August 2020.