al-Qaida leader from Afghanistan taken to Gitmo

Suspected al-Qaida leader from Afghanistan taken to Guantanamo

September 12, 2007 5:23 PM

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A suspected al-Qaida operative captured in Afghanistan was transferred this week to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

The Afghan detainee, identified as Inayatullah, allegedly took instructions from senior leaders of the terrorist organization and coordinated the travel of fighters through countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Iraq.

Inayatullah ''planned and directed al-Qaida terrorist operations,'' said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a spokesman for the Defense Department.

He is a rare new arrival at the U.S. Naval Base in southeast Cuba, where the detainee population has thinned to about 340 men suspected of links to terrorism, al-Qaida or the Taliban as the U.S. has moved to repatriate others cleared for transfer by review panels.

All but a few are being held without charges.

Gordon said Inayatullah was taken to Guantanamo partly because of his high placement in al-Qaida, but he is not considered in the same ''high-value'' category as several alleged senior leaders of al-Qaida.

''Decisions on whether and where to prosecute him will be made at a later date, after there has been an opportunity to look into these matters in greater detail,'' Gordon said.

AP-WS-09-12-07 2011EDT source