Former Gitmo Detainee Sufian bin Qumu Was On The Ground In Benghazi During Terror Attack that Killed 4 Americans

Could some one please explain to me why we are capturing terrorists, holding them at GITMO and then letting them go?

The Obama administration has held no one, zero, nada, nil, nessuno, cero, ninguno, nikdo, semmi, butkis responsible for the murders of four Americans, including Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi following the terror attacks that Obama’s minions initially called a reaction to a video. But then again, Obama typically grandstands in front of the camera and promises  to hold people responsible and never does.  Oh, oops, this was Obama’s faux promise to hold those responsible in Benghazi.To make matters worse, if possible, now we learn  that ex-GITMO detainee, Sufian bin Qumu, with Al Qaeda ties was in Benghazi the night of the September 11, 2012 terror attack.

Sufian bin Qumu

From FOX News:

A former Guantanamo Bay detainee with Al Qaeda ties was in Benghazi the night of the Sept. 11 attack, according to a source on the ground in Libya.

The source told Fox News that ex-detainee Sufian bin Qumu, who is suspected of running camps in eastern Libya where some of the assailants trained, is also a “respected member” of Ansar al-Sharia — one of the Islamist groups identified in State Department email traffic two hours after the attack.

Two sources familiar with the investigation, when asked about bin Qumu’s whereabouts the night of the attack, did not dispute the claim he was in Benghazi.

While it is not clear whether bin Qumu was directing the assault, his security file from Guantanamo may be revealing. Having already trained in Usama bin Laden’s camps, in 1998 bin Qumu joined the Taliban in Pakistan and “communicated with likely extremist elements via radio during this period indicating a position of leadership,” the file shows.

Fox News’ ongoing reporting on the attack has shown that at least four key Benghazi suspects have ties to the Al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan. They include bin Qumu and Muhammad Jamal, whose network is also suspected of training jihadists for the attack. Jamal was held, and later released by, Egyptian authorities. Earlier this month, the State Department’s terrorist designation for Jamal and his network cites letters he exchanged with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, where Jamal asked for money and explained the scope of his training camps, which included Libya and the Sinai.

Fox News was first to report that two other suspects have ties to the Al Qaeda senior leadership — one believed to be a former courier and the other, a bodyguard for the network. Faraj al Chalabi, identified to Fox News as the bodyguard, was also in Afghanistan with bin Laden until the U.S. invasion in October 2001. (Read full story and watch video HERE)

I couldn’t agree with Weasel Zippers any more … “Why bother capturing them in the first place if we’re going to cut them loose?”

US Military Special Forces Carry Out Raid in Somalia & Libya

The New York Times is reporting that US Special Forces are said to have been involved today in two raids in Africa, one in Somalia and the other in Libya. Special Forces in Libya are said to have captured Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai and known as Abu Anas al-Liby. The al Qaeda leader was wanted for his role in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

In the second raid, US Navy Seals in Somalia targeted  a senior leader of the Shabab, the Somali terrorist group who has planned the terror attack a little over a week ago at a Nairobi shopping mall that killed more than 60 people.

VIDEO – CNN

American commandos carried out raids on Saturday in two far-flung African countries in a powerful flex of military muscle aimed at capturing fugitive terrorist suspects. American troops assisted by F.B.I. and C.I.A. agents seized a suspected leader of Al Qaeda on the streets of Tripoli, Libya, while Navy SEALs raided the seaside villa of a militant leader in a predawn firefight on the coast of Somalia.

In Tripoli, American forces captured a Libyan militant who had been indicted in 2000 for his role in the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The militant, born Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai and known by his nom de guerre, Abu Anas al-Liby, had a $5 million bounty on his head; his capture at dawn ended a 15-year manhunt.

In Somalia, the Navy SEAL team emerged before sunrise from the Indian Ocean and exchanged gunfire with militants at the home of a senior leader of the Shabab, the Somali militant group. The raid was planned more than a week ago, officials said, after a massacre by the Shabab at a Nairobi shopping mall that killed more than 60 people two weeks ago.

UPDATE I: As reported at Legal Insurrection, there there is conflicting news regarding the raids, news outlets are confirming that an Al Shabaab leader was a target of the raid, reports about whether or not that target was captured or killed are conflicting.

UPDATE II: CBS News – Embassy bombings figure nabbed by Delta Force in Libya.

U.S. special forces on Saturday carried out a raid in the Libyan capital to capture an al-Qaeda leader linked to the 1998 American Embassy bombings in East Africa and wanted by the United States for more than a decade, U.S. officials said. The news of the capture was previously confirmed by CBS News.

The Pentagon identified the al-Qaeda leader as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Libi. His capture would represent a significant blow to what remains of the core al-Qaeda organization once led by Osama bin Laden.

The Pentagon’s chief spokesman George Little said al-Libi “is currently lawfully detained by the U.S. military in a secure location outside of Libya.” He did not disclose further details.

A senior U.S. military official said the raid was carried out by the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, which has responsibility for counterterrorism operations in North Africa. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly.

Al-Shabaab Claims that Three Americans Are Among Gunmen in Kenya Mall Massacre, Death Toll at 68

Americans among the Al-Shabaab terrorist gunman?

Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliated terror group, is claiming that there are three American gunmen among the others Islamists in a standoff at the Westage Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.  The Al-Qaeda affiliate tweeted the following names: Ahmed Mohamed Isse, 22, “native” of St. Paul, MN, Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, of Minneapolis, and Gen Mustafe Noorudiin, 27, of Kansas City, MO.  The Kenya Mall Massacre has killed at least 68 and wounded over 200 individuals.

More from the PJ Tatler:

The Somali al-Qaeda affiliate tweeted a series of names on its latest account before Twitter against suspended the group. Al-Shabaab has been creating new accounts each time they get shut down but a movement of pro-Kenyan tweeters has been tracking down the new accounts and complaining to Twitter.

“We received permission to disclose the names of our mujahideen inside #Westgate,” their latest account tweeted.

They proceeded to tweet the names one by one, including Ahmed Mohamed Isse, 22, “native” of St. Paul, Minn., Abdifatah Osman Keenadiid, 24, of Minneapolis, and Gen Mustafe Noorudiin, 27, of Kansas City, Mo.

Al-Shabaab recently released a PR video targeted at Somali-Americans in Minnesota, trying to lure them to jihad as more than two dozen have already done so through the state’s “terror pipeline.” Three Americans — Abdisalan Hussein Ali, Farah Mohamed Beledi and Shirwa Ahmed — from Minnesota have been suicide bombers for Al-Shabaab in a series of attacks in Mogadishu over the past few years.

Other gunmen were named as being from locations such as Finland, Canada, the UK., Somalia and Kenya. None of the names were female, even though witnesses reported a white woman among the shooters.

A Minnesota connection to the Somali al-Qaeda affiliate? As stated at Vox Popoli, Al-Shabaab has recently released a PR video targeting Somali-Americans in Minnesota trying to recruit them to the terror group. And the NSA is spying on our phone calls, emails and meta data.

Al-Shabaab recently released a PR video targeted at Somali-Americans in Minnesota, trying to lure them to jihad as more than two dozen have already done so through the state’s “terror pipeline.” Three Americans — Abdisalan Hussein Ali, Farah Mohamed Beledi and Shirwa Ahmed — from Minnesota have been suicide bombers for Al-Shabaab in a series of attacks in Mogadishu over the past few years.

20 Dead as Gunman Attack Nairobi Shopping Mall in Kenya (Update: Attackers were Targeting non-Muslims) (Update: Authorities Calling Possible Terror Attack) (Update: 59 Dead, Likely to Rise, Islamists Have Hostages)

CNN is reporting that dozens are injured and at least 20 are dead as gunman opened fire in a Nairobi mall in Kenya. The attack took place at an upscale Westgate Mall. In is unknown at this time just how many people have been injured or killed and the background of the gunman. A witness said that gunmen armed with AK-47s and grenades.

Gunmen attacked an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital on Saturday, leading to a fierce gunbattle with police and leaving dozens of casualties.

The Kenyan Red Cross reported 20 dead, though a government official, Joseph Ole Lenku, only confirmed 11.

Fifty more people were wounded in the attack at the mall in Nairobi, said Abbas Gullet, head of the Kenyan Red Cross.

A security agent told CNN’s Lillian Leposo at the scene that the violence was a terrorist attack, but officials had yet to confirm that information, Leposo told CNN.

“They have strong reason that these men are terrorists,” Leposo said.

UPDATE I: From AP via the Jawa Report … it would appear that CNN left out this little important fact that the gunman were solely attacking non-Muslims. So they were only attacking non-Muslims, eh? Let’s go out on a limb and call this an act of terror and not workplace violence.

The gunmen announced that non-Muslims would be targeted, said Elijah Kamau, who was at the mall at the time of the midday attack.

“The gunmen told Muslims to stand up and leave. They were safe, and non-Muslims would be targeted,” he said.

UPDATE II: ABC News is reporting that 22 are dead and the attackers were targeting non-Muslims. The authorities are treating it as a terrorist attack.

Gunmen threw grenades and opened fire Saturday killing at least 22 people in an attack targeting non-Muslims at an upscale mall in Kenya’s capital that was hosting a children’s day event, a Red Cross official and witnesses said.

The attackers remained inside and firing subsided as military surrounded the mall hours after the attack. People continued to trickle out from hiding places within the Westgate mall, which is frequented by expatriates and rich Kenyans in Nairobi’s affluent Westlands neighborhood.

Kenya Red Cross official Abbas Gullet said at least 22 people were killed in the attack that police blamed on terrorists. He said the death toll would likely rise.

“We are treating this as a terrorist attack,” said police chief Benson Kibue, adding that there are likely no more than 10 attackers involved.

UPDATE III: The BBC is reporting that police first thought it was a robbery; however, is now classifying it as terrorism.

A senior police officer originally said it was an attempted robbery but later called it a possible terrorist attack.

The Somali militant group al-Shabab had threatened to strike the centre.

It is opposed to Kenya sending troops to fight in Somalia. No group has said it carried out Saturday’s attack.

UPDATE IV: Islamist gunmen holed up with hostages in Nairobi siege, 59 dead.

Islamist militants were holed up with hostages on Sunday at a shopping mall in Nairobi, where at least 59 people have been killed in an attack by the al Shabaab group that opposes Kenya’s participation in a peacekeeping mission in neighboring Somalia.

UNBELIEVABLE … Majority of Democrats Walk Out of Benghazi Congressional Hearings Refusing to Listen to Testimony of Parents of Murdered Sean Smith & Tyrone Woods

IT REALLY DOES NOT GET ANY MORE DISRESPECTFUL OR DESPICABLE … DEMOCRATS WALK OUT OF HEARINGS REFUSING TO LISTEN TO TESTIMONY OF THE PARENTS OF SLAIN TY WOODS AND SEAN SMITH.

As reported at The Town Hall, Democrats did the unthinkable yesterday and walked out of the Congressional hearing on Benghazi and spitting on the graves of Tyrone Woods and Sean Smith. Democrats refused to hear testimony from the parents of fallen Navy Seal Tyrone Woods and the parents of Sean Smith, who were both killed by terrorists in Benghazi during an attack that the Obama administration originally blamed on a video tape. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? Do these politicians realize that they work for “We the People”? How could a supposed Representative of the people refuse to listen to the people in the “People’s” House?

Words do not even begin to describe the unconscionable act that these Democrats just did.

During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused to listen to the testimony of Patricia Smith and Charles Woods. Ms. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, an information management officer killed in the 9/11 Benghazi attack. Charles Woods is the father of Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods, who was also killed.

SICK, JUST PLAIN SICK! The only Democrats who stayed for testimony of the parents were Ranking Member Elijah Cummings and Rep. Jackie Speier.

UPDATE I: PJ Tatler has VIDEO of the hearings of Patricia Smith, mother of slain U.S. Foreign Service information officer Sean Smith and Charles Woods, father of slain Navy SEAL Tyrone Woods.

UPDATE II: Weasel Zippers has a list of the cowardly Democrats who walked out on the parents of two American heroes who gave their lives for this country. You might want to call their offices and give them a piece of your mind as to their disgusting and disrespectful behavior.

Carolyn Maloney
Danny Davis
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Gerald E. Connolly
Jim Cooper
John Tierney
Mark Pocan
Matt Cartwright
Michelle Lujan Grisham
Peter Welch
Stephen Lynch
Steven Horsford
Tammy Duckworth
Tony Cardenas
William Lacy Clay