The five Taliban leaders were exchanged for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held by the Taliban since 2009.
A copy of the statement attributed to Omar has been posted on the Taliban’s Urdu-language web site.
Omar thanks the government of Qatar, as well as its emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, for his help in brokering the deal and for hosting the Taliban leaders. In earlier statements, both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry similarly thanked Qatar for its assistance.
Omar offers his “heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation,” including “all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this great victory.”
The Taliban had demanded the release of the five commanders from Guantanamo for years. In early 2012, the Taliban announced that it had established a “political office” in Doha for the expressed purpose of securing their freedom.
In addition to Omar’s statement, the Taliban has also posted pictures of the now ex-Guantanamo detainees being greeted by supporters and family members in Qatar. As The Long War Journal has previously documented, all five were closely linked to al Qaeda prior to their detention and deemed “high” risks to the US, its interests, and its allies, according to leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) threat assessments.
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The first picture posted by the Taliban appears to show Mullah Norullah Noori, a senior Taliban military commander. According to a leaked JTF-GTMO file, Noori has been “wanted by the United Nations (UN) for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims.” He fought alongside al Qaeda in pre-9/11 Afghanistan.
![Taliban-5-Bergdahl-Swap-1.jpg]()
The second unlabeled photo, seen below, seems to be of Abdul Haq Wasiq, a senior Taliban intelligence official. He arranged for al Qaeda to train the Taliban in “intelligence methods,” according to a leaked JTF-GTMO file.
![Taliban-5-Bergdahl-Swap-2.jpg]()
The third photo [below] shows Mullah Muhammad Fazl, the former Taliban deputy minister of defense. Fazl’s face is obscured in the photo. Like Noori, according to the JTF-GTMO files, Fazl is “wanted by the UN for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites.” Fazl worked closely with al Qaeda leaders, including Abdul Hadi al Iraqi, who is still detained at Guantanamo.
![Taliban-5-Bergdahl-Swap-Mullah-Fazal.jpg]()
The fourth photo shows Mohammad Nabi Omari, a Taliban leader who served in multiple roles and coordinated attacks with al Qaeda and other affiliated groups in Afghanistan.
![Taliban-5-Bergdahl-Swap-Nabi-Omeri.jpg]()
The fifth and final photo is of Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, the former Taliban governor of Herat province. Khairkhwa had multiple ties to al Qaeda prior to 9/11, according to the JTF-GTMO files. He also helped broker a deal between the Iranian regime and the Taliban, who were historically at odds with one another. As a result of the deal, the Iranians agreed to support the Taliban in its war against the US.
For more on the five Taliban leaders released from Guantanamo, see The Long War Journal’s previousreports.
![Taliban-5-Bergdahl-Swap-Khairkhawa.jpg]()
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/mullah_omar_hails_re.php##ixzz346drqPBi
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Mullah Norullah Noori, senior Taliban military commander
![Mullah-Norullah-Noori.jpg]()
Another leaked JTF-GTMO file described Noori as a “senior Taliban military commander” who was engaged in hostilities “against US and Coalition forces in late 2001.”
Noori is “wanted by the United Nations (UN) for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims.”
When the JTF-GTMO threat assessment for Noori was authored in February 2008, his brother was still active in the fight against the Coalition. Noori’s “brother is a Taliban commander directing operations against US and Coalition forces in Zabul Province.” Noori himself “remained a significant figure to Taliban supporters” even after his capture.
In addition to his ties to Mullah Omar and other senior Taliban leaders, Noori was “associated with…senior al Qaeda members and other extremist organizations.”
Declassified memos authored at Guantanamo provide more details about Noori’s al Qaeda ties. Noori “fought alongside al Qaeda as a Taliban military general, against the Northern Alliance” in September 1995. Noori also “hosted al Qaeda commanders” and “met a subordinate of Osama bin Laden to pass a message from the Taliban supreme leader” – that is, a message from Mullah Omar.
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![Abdula Haq Wasiq]()
Abdul Haq Wasiq-senior Taliban intelligence official
Abdul Haq Wasiq, a former Taliban intelligence official, “had direct access to Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) leadership,” according to a leaked JTF-GTMO threat assessment. Wasiq “was central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other Islamic fundamentalist groups to fight alongside the Taliban against US and Coalition forces after the 11 September 2001 attacks.”
JTF-GTMO concluded that Wasiq “utilized his office to support al Qaeda and to assist Taliban personnel elude capture” in late 2001. Wasiq also “arranged for al Qaeda personnel to train Taliban intelligence staff in intelligence methods.”
Al Qaeda’s training of Taliban operatives, arranged by Wasiq, was reportedly conducted by Hamza Zubayr, a terrorist who was formerly an instructor at one of al Qaeda’s most important training camps. Zubayr was killed during the same September 2002 raid that netted 9/11 facilitator Ramzi Binalshibh. The assistance from Zubayr was crucially important to the Taliban’s intelligence efforts, according to the JTF-GTMO file, because many of the administrators in the Taliban Ministry of Intelligence “had no prior intelligence background.”
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Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Taliban deputy minister of defense
![Mullah-Mohammad-Fazl.jpg]()
Mullah Mohammad Fazl was one of the Taliban’s most experienced commanders prior to his capture in November 2001. Like Noori, according to another leaked JTF-GTMO file,
Fazl is “wanted by the UN for possible war crimes including the murder of thousands of Shiites.” Fazl “was associated with terrorist groups currently opposing U.S. and Coalition forces including al Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), and an Anti-Coalition Militia group known as Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami.”
Fazl had “operational associations with significant al Qaeda and other extremist personnel,” according to JTF-GTMO. One of the high-ranking al Qaeda commanders Fazl long cooperated with was Abdel Hadi al Iraqi, who led Osama bin Laden’s Arab 055 Brigade in the Taliban’s Afghanistan. The 055 Brigade was bin Laden’s chief fighting force and served alongside Taliban units.
Immediately “following the assassination of Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in September 2001,” al Iraqi explained to US officials, “the Northern Alliance was demoralized” and he met with Fazl to “coordinate an attack with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.”
Prior to his detention, Fazl “wielded considerable influence throughout the northern region of Afghanistan and his influence continued after his capture.” Fazl’s “name and capture have been used in recruiting campaigns by the Taliban.”
“If released,” JTF-GTMO warned in a February 2008 memo, Fazl “would likely rejoin the Taliban and establish ties with [Anti-Coalition Militia] elements participating in hostilities against U.S. and Coalition forces in Afghanistan.”
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Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, former governor of Herat province
![Khirullah-Said-Wali-Khairkhwa-2.jpg]()
Khairkhwa was one of Mullah Omar’s closest confidantes prior to his capture. According to a JTF-GTMO file, Khairkhwa “was directly associated” with both Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar. “Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks,” the leaked JTF-GTMO file reads, Khairkhwa “represented the Taliban during meetings with Iranian officials seeking to support hostilities against US and Coalition Forces.” In June 2011, a DC district court denied Khairkhwa’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, based in large part on his admitted role in brokering the Taliban’s post-9/11 deal with the Iranians. [See LWJ report, DC district court denies former Taliban governor's habeas petition.]
As the governor of Afghanistan’s western Herat province, Khairkhwa and “his deputy were probably associated with a militant training camp in Herat operated by deceased al Qaeda commander (in Iraq) Abu Musab al Zarqawi.”
In declassified memos prepared at Guantanamo, US officials alleged that Khairkhwa became a major drug trafficker as well. Khairkhwa reportedly built three walled compounds that he used to manage his opium trade. And he allegedly oversaw one of Osama bin Laden’s training facilities in Herat, too. One US government memo noted that only Khairkhwa or bin Laden himself “could authorize entrance” to the facility, which was one of bin Laden’s “most important bases” and “conducted terrorist training two times per week.”
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![Mohammad Nabi Omari]()
Mohammad Nabi Omari, senior Taliban leader who served multiple roles
In a leaked memo dated Jan. 23, 2008, JTF-GTMO analysts recommended that Nabi be held in “continued detention” by the Defense Department. Nabi “was a senior Taliban official who served in multiple leadership roles,” according to JTF-GTMO. Nabi “had strong operational ties to Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) groups including al Qaeda, the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), some of whom remain active in ACM activities.”
Intelligence reports cited by JTF-GTMO indicate that Nabi was a “member of a joint al Qaeda/Taliban ACM cell in Khowst and was involved in attacks against US and Coalition forces.” Nabi also “maintained weapons caches and facilitated the smuggling of fighters and weapons.”
Prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Nabi worked for the Taliban’s border security and in this capacity had “access to senior Taliban commander and leader of the Haqqani Network, Jalaluddin Haqqani.” Haqqani was the Taliban Minister of Frontiers and Borders at the time and this is what gave Nabi the opportunity to become Haqqani’s “close associate,” according to JTF-GTMO.
One “sensitive contact” told authorities that Nabi was one of “three former Taliban commanders loyal to Haqqani.” The other two are Nabi’s brother-in-law, Malim Jan, and Gul Majid. The three worked under still another Taliban commander, Zakim Khan.
Malim Jan was nicknamed the “Butcher of Khowst” for his reported role in murdering 300 people there. Jan was a sub-commander under Haqqani and the head of a “Secret Police” unit.
Intelligence reports cited by JTF-GTMO indicate that Malim Jan, Gul Majid, and Zakim Khan were all still active in the insurgency in Afghanistan as of late 2007.
A “sensitive contact” told authorities that Nabi participated in a Jan. 26, 2002 “planning session to identify a new Governor of Khowst and to propose a list of members for the Khowst City Shura Council loyal to Haqqani.” Several other high-level Taliban and Haqqani officials attended the meeting. One of them “directed the group to reconvene after members discussed names with al Qaeda members in their provinces.” The leaked JTF-GTMO memo notes:
“The plan was to have all personnel identified and vetted to prepare for future al Qaeda control of the area under Jalaluddin Haqqani.”
Beginning in February 2002, according to another intelligence report cited by JTF-GTMO, Nabi and “three al Qaeda affiliated individuals held weekly meetings to discuss ACM plans and to coordinate Haqqani loyalists.”
Then, in July 2002, an “Afghan government employee” reported that Nabi had joined “a new Khowst province ACM cell comprised of Taliban and al Qaeda commanders who had operated independently in the past.” The list of cell members provided by this source included not only Taliban and al Qaeda leaders, but also individuals affiliated with the HIG and the Haqqani Network.
The JTF-GTMO file includes an intriguing detail about one member of Nabi’s cell – *a Haqqani money courier named Malik Khan. “Ayman al Zawahiri, the number two leader of al Qaeda” at the time, and now al Qaeda’s emir, “has stayed at Khan’s compound located outside Miram Shah,” Pakistan.*
In August 2002, Nabi reportedly helped two al Qaeda operatives smuggle “an unknown number of missiles along the highway between Jalalabad and Peshawar,” Pakistan. The missiles were smuggled in pieces, with the intent of rebuilding them for attacks near the Jalalabad airport. On Aug. 28, 2002, JTF-GTMO analysts noted, “two Americans were killed during attacks against the Khowst, Gardez, and Jalalabad airports.”
Nabi was captured in September 2002, detained at Bagram, and then transferred to Guantanamo. It was the end, temporarily at least, to a career that started in the 1980s when Nabi first fought as a mujahideen against the Soviets. http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/05/sgt_bowe_bergdahl_ex.php#ixzz341dhvRwp
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“That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.”
It would appear these Drug Lords and Killers are merging their groups under the Pakistan ISI protected Haqqani Network. The Muslim Brotherhood represents the nexus where fanatical Islamists, deviant elites, and the criminalized elements in government and the Intelligence Community meet. The MB currently has terrorist groups as military wings – one might surmise that the merging Haqqani Network will also come under their wing. .
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Note: Obama along with Qatar, UAE, Pakistan, Sauds, Turkey have been and continue to be big supporters and funders of the Muslim Brotherhood! The Spiritual head of the MB is located in Qatar, the Taliban Party Headquarters, which Obama supports, is located in Qatar, as in al Jazeera who supported the MB, Columbians are being trained by Blackwater in the UAE, Qatar, and other Emirate countries, Carnegie Mellon has a training college in Qatar for the ? called the Academy of Change…and so on…
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Info on the violent Haqqani Network (the terrorists who held Bergdahl):
https://www.understandingwar.org/haqqani-network
