Gitmo Detainee Acquitted in Algeria

Last week, an Algerian court acquitted Ahmed bin Saleh Belbacha of a prior conviction of terrorism. Ahmed Belbacha is a 45 year old Algerian man formerly held captive at Guantanamo Bay before being repatriated to Algeria. Between January 1990 and September 1991, Belbacha completed his mandatory training in the Algerian Army, receiving training as a military policeman, rifleman, and cook. He later worked as a secretary for the city of Algiers and for Sonatrach, a petroleum company, before being hired as a security guard for the city government. Apparently Belbacha fled to France in March 1999 due to his life being threatened by the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). Upon arriving in France, Belbacha assumed the fake identity “Slim Antar” under a French passport, and headed to Great Britain seeking political asylum that May.

Upon arriving in London, Belbacha stayed at the Finsbury Park Mosque where he listened to sermons by the now jailed Sheik Abu Hamza al-Masri and was informed of jihadist activity in Chechenya, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. Belbacha moved to Portsmouth, UK and worked for two years at a hotel. His application for asylum was rejected so he moved back to the Finsbury Park Mosque and petitioned them for help with requesting an appeal. In the meantime, al-Masri advised Ahmed Belbacha to head to Afghanistan in order to avoid deportation back to Algeria; heading to Afghanistan required no proper documentation.

Belbacha headed to Afghanistan for training in July 2001 by way of Peshawar, Pakistan, where he met up with a “Mohammed al-Afghani.” Mohammed al-Afghani is believed to be a pseudonym for Muhammad Shah, known for transporting al-Qaeda recruits into Afghanistan. Al-Afghani got Belbacha into Jalalabad, Afghanistan, where Belbacha stayed for three months at “The House of the Algerians” a safe house for European and North African recruits run by Abu Jaffar. Belbacha apparently met Usama bin Laden twice in Afghanistan, perhaps when he stayed with three al-Qaeda leaders in Kabul and Jalalabad. When questioned about his motives, Ahmed Belbacha claimed that he was fighting in Afghanistan because he believed it was every good Muslim’s duty to do so.