A high-profile detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba claimed that the U.S. military prison’s rehabilitation program for captured terrorists is actually just a front for jihadist supporters. This program was established by President Barack Obama’s administration as part of its condition before releasing detainees to Saudi Arabia.
Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi was a senior operative of Al Qaeda who was captured in March of 2002. He has a background in electrical engineering and attended a flight school in the U.S. with two of the hijackers involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
In Guantanamo Bay, he is known as one of the most unrepentant prisoners who has consistently refused to join the rehabilitation program despite the opportunity of getting released to Saudi Arabia. Currently, over 130 Gitmo detainees have already enrolled in the program.
During his recent parole meeting, he explained his reasons for not joining the program. According to al-Sharbi, although it presents itself as a de-radicalization center, the program actually motivates the terrorists to continue their fight against their enemies.
“There is a strong – externally, a strong – de-radicalization program,” he said according to a recently disclosed transcript of the parole board meeting. “But make no mistake, underneath there is a hidden radicalization program. There is a very hidden strong – way stronger in magnitude – broader in financing, in all that.”
“They’re launching more wars and the [United] States is backing off from the region,” he added. “They’re poking their nose and here and there and they’re recruiting more jihadists, and they’ll tell you, ‘Okay, go fight in Yemen. Go fight in Syria.”
Despite his close ties to Al Qaeda, al-Sharbi said that he refuses to join the program because it does not reflect his true beliefs about Jihad. For him, those who enroll in the center are just being used by Saudi Arabia to take down the U.S. for its own interests.
As noted by Townhall, al-Sharbi’s claims against Saudi Arabia coincide with the information revealed through a leaked email from Hillary Clinton’s camp. The document, which cited U.S. intelligence reports, stated that Saudi Arabia has consistently provided various type of support to radical group operating in the region, such as ISIS.
