Ex-Gitmo Detainee Resurfaces in Al Qaeda Video: ‘The War Is Not Over Yet’

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, CUBA— Ibrahim Al Qosi, a former Guantánamo detainee, has re-joined Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), recommitting to waging jihad against the West following his release from the detention facility.

“We placed America in the top of our list same as America placed us in the top of the list,” Qosi says in the video produced by the Al Qaeda Yemen branch, promising to continue his fight against the United States. “The war is not over yet,” he adds.

The video has been circulated in jihadi social media and, as propaganda, is significantly less bombastic than the fare offered by the rival Islamic State jihadi group.

The hour-long video, titled “Guardians of Sharia,” primarily focuses on the accomplishments of deceased Al Qaeda chief Anwar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen and once the Imam at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. Awlaki played a critical role in the creation of Inspire Magazine, the jihadi group’s propaganda publication.

Al Qosi, an alleged Al Qaeda operative, was captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan in 2001. In 2002, he was transferred to Guantánamo Bay.

The U.S. government alleged he was “an Al Qaeda operative” who “traveled to Afghanistan for jihad” and “took military or terrorist training in Afghanistan.” Al Qosi was also a driver and bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, and a treasurer for an Al Qaeda front group, the government said.

While in detention, Al Qosi said he waged war against the U.S. due to his “religious duty to defend Islam and fulfill the obligation of jihad and that the war between America and Al Qaeda is a war between Islam and aggression of the infidels,” according to the Joint Task Force-Guantanamo.

In 2010, he plead guilty in a plea bargain deal that saw the jihadi serve a shorter sentence. He would later be transferred in July 2012 to Sudan, where the Al Qaeda leader would be moved into what was described as a “re-integration program.” Sudan, the former homebase of Osama bin Laden, is a hotbed for Islamic radicalism, and is led by warlord President Omar al-Bashir.

Qosi linked up with AQAP in 2014 and now serves in a position of leadership in the Al Qaeda outfit, according to The Long War Journal.

Meanwhile, pre-trial proceedings continue here at Guantanamo Bay, with the “9/11 five” facing a multitude of charges as the alleged masterminds of the September 11 attacks against America.