Abdullahi Sudi Arale Abdullahi Sudi Arale is a citizen of Somalia who was held for two and a half years in extrajudicial detention by the United States . Arale ' s transfer to the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp s , in Cuba , was confirmed on Wednesday , June 6 , 2007 . Arale ' s capture was said to have occurred " in recent weeks " . Arale was alleged to have helped courier weapons and explosives between al Qaeda elements in Pakistan and the horn of Africa . Bryan Whitman , a Department of Defense spokesman , said : " " We believe him to be an extremely dangerous member of the al - Qaida network , " " Xinhua " reports that American officials claimed Arale had held a leadership position in the Somali Council of Islamic Courts . Xinhua also reported American officials claimed Arale had been living in Pakistan until a return to Somalia , " eight months ago " . On November 3 , 2008 , the " New York Times " published a page summarizing the official documents from each captive . The New York Times stated that no further official records of his detention — no Combatant Status Review Tribunal had been published . Habeas corpus petition . Arale has had a writ of habeas corpus filed on his behalf . Carol Rosenberg attached a set of heavily redacted habeas related documents to an article she published in the " Miami Herald " about Arale when he was repatriated . A heavily redacted Narrative for Ismael Arale stated that he said he traveled to Syria in 1999 to study , failed to get a place . He then traveled to Pakistan in 2000 , where he studied at an Islamic University in Islamabad , from 2000 to 2006 , while working part - time as an airline ticket agent . Repatriation . Abdullahi has two half - sisters , who were able to become refugees in Finland , in 1999 , when they were children . His half - sisters worked to try to get Finland to offer him asylum , fearing he would be killed if he were repatriated to Somalia . In a profile in the Helsingin Sanomat his half - sisters said he had a wife and four children in Somalia . Two other siblings helped support his family in Somalia . The " Helsingin Sanomat " published a picture of his sister Amina Muumin holding a picture of Abdullah . Carol Rosenberg , writing in the " Miami Herald " reported that Ismael Arale was one of twelve men transferred from Guantanamo on December 19 , 2009 . Rosenberg reported that Arale and another Somali had been arrived in Somaliland , where they were promptly released . She reported that , according to local Somaliland newspapers , the two Somalis had been transferred to a third country , and had arrived in Somaliland on a plane provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross . Rosenberg reported Arale had been alleged to be " " . . . a document forger and Islamic jurist , was captured in Somalia in 2006 was one of the last detainees ever taken to Guantánamo . " " The other eleven men were : Ayman Batarfi , Jamal Alawi Mari , Farouq Ali Ahmed , Muhammaed Yasir Ahmed Taher , Fayad Yahya Ahmed al Rami , Riyad Atiq Ali Abdu al Haf , Abdul Hafiz , Sharifullah , Mohamed Rahim , Mohammed Hashim and Mohamed Suleiman Barre . Abdul Hafiz , Sharifullah , Mohamed Rahim and Mohammed Hashim were Afghans . Mohamed Suleiman Barre was the other Somali . The other six men were Yemenis . Joint Task Force Guantanamo Detainee Assessment . On April 25 , 2011 Guantanamo Detainee Assessment Briefs , signed by the commandants of Joint Task Force Guantanamo , released to the whistleblower organization WikiLeaks , were published by a selection of cooperating newspapers . Unlike most briefs , Abdullahi ' s seven page memo was unsigned . References . < div class = " references - small " >