# Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Belkacem, Bensaya (2008-01-17)

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| UNCLASSIFIED Department of Defense Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba |
| | 17 January 2008 |
| To: | Belkacem, Bensayah |
| Subject: | Unclassified Summary of Evidence for Administrative Review Board in the case of Belkacem, Bensaya |
| 1. | An Administrative Review Board will be convened to review your case to determine if your continued detention is necessary, |
| 2. | The Administrative Review Board will conduct a comprehensive review of all reasonably available and relevant information regarding your case. At the conclusion of this review the Board will make a recommendation to: (1) release you to your home state; (2) transfer you to your home state, with conditions agreed upon by the United States and your home state; or (3) continue your detention under United States control. |
| 3. | The following primary factors favor continued detention: |
| | a) Commitment The detainee visited a senior al Qaida lieutenant's guest house in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1994 en route to Bosnia to fight in the jihad. The detainee had ties to the Chechen movement in 1999 and had a connection to one of Usama bin Laden's lieutenants. The detainee planned to travel and join the jihadist elements in Afghanistan in late September 2001, in anticipation of the United States coalition invasion and encouraged his friends to do the same. The detainee applied for an Iranian visa in Bosnia for travel to Afghanistan on 1 October 2001. The detainee, without any viable means of financial support, was able to support himself and several other former Bosnian Mujahedin families in Bosnia. Some of the financial support was provided by the Director of the Saudi High Commission for Relief. The detainee was identified as the primary al Qaida facilitator in Bosnia in September 2001. The detainee was used as a contact to procure passports from 1997 to 2000. The detainee the person who planned and assisted the arrival of an undisclosed number of unidentified travelers from Afghanistan. The detainee an al Qaida member who had a group of former Bosnia Mujahedin of Algerian descent living and working under him in Bosnia. The detainee was identified as an associate of a group of Algerians , with possible association to a terrorist organization , connected with a suspected plot against the United States embassy. The detainee an Algerian national who fought in Bosnia in the mid to late 1990's. b) Training The detainee stated he served in the Algerian military from 1982 to 1984. c) Connections/Associations The Armed Islamic Group/GIA is described as an Islamic extremist group that aims to overthrow the secular Algerian regime and replace it with an Islamic state . The Armed Islamic Group has frequent attacks against civilians and government workers. Since 1993, the Armed Islamic Group has killed more than 100 men and women in the country. |
| 4. | The following primary factors favor release or transfer: |
| | a) The detainee denied any involvement with one of Usama bin Laden's lieutenants, Bosnian Mujahedin members and other Algerian -Bosnians suspected of involvement with planning an attack against the United States Embassy in Sarajevo , Bosnia. b)The detainee stated he knew about al Qaida and that Usama bin Laden was the leader, but he only knew this from media reports. The detainee stated he never heard of al Qaida operating in Bosnia. c) The detainee stated he never associated with any terrorists or anyone who wanted to hurt the United States. The detainee stated he never worked with al Haraman although he has heard of them. d) The detainee denied having much knowledge of the al Haramayn Organization and stated he had never heard of the organization being extremist. e) The detainee stated he never had a bank account in Sarajevo or elsewhere in Bosnia. f) The detainee stated he did not have any involvement in a plot to blow up the United States Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia. g) The detainee stated the Bosnian Government stated there was no case against him and he would be sent back to Algeria. h) The detainee stated he had nothing to do with al Qaida and he has been truthful throughout his interrogations. i) The detainee denied being involved in the facilitating of fraudulent passports for others. The only involvement the detainee had with fraudulent passports was that concerning his own fraudulent Yemeni passport. j) The detainee denied having any knowledge of the attacks on the United States prior to their execution on 11 September 2001 and also denied knowledge of any rumors or plans of future attacks on the United States or United States interests. |
| 5. | You will be afforded a meaningful opportunity to be heard and to present information to the Board; this includes an opportunity to be physically present at the proceeding, The Assisting Military Officer (AMO) will assist you in reviewing all relevant and reasonably available unclassified information regarding your case. The AMO is not an advocate for or against continued detention, nor may the AMO form a confidential relationship with you or represent you in any other matter. |