Al-Qaeda guest houses, Faisalabad

The American intelligence analysts who compiled the justifications for continuing to detain the captives taken in the War on Terror made dozens of references to an al Qaida safe house, in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.

Five of the twenty men who face charges before Guantanamo military commissions were captured in a single raid on a safe house in Faisalabad.

American and Pakistani counter-terrorism officials have made multiple raids on suspected safe houses in Faisalabad.

One large raid, of what counter-terrorism officials described as an "al-Qaida safe house", netted dozens of foreigners, from around the world, who the counter-terrorism officials described as suspicious. The captives however, during their Combatant Status Review Tribunals, disputed that living with other foreigners should be a trigger for suspicions, when they were all foreign students living in Salafi University's foreign students' dormitory.

Captives apprehended with Abu Zubaydah

Abu Zubaydah was captured with close to two dozen other individuals in raids by Pakistani security forces on several Faisalabad safe houses.[1]

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz described this house as a "Lashkar a-Tayeb safe house".[2]

isn	name	notes
10016	Abu Zubaydah	American intelligence analysts assert he is a top member of the al Qaeda leadership. Some skeptics assert that he was mentally unstable, and had less serious responsibilities the American intelligence community asserts. Was held, until the fall of 2006, in the CIA's archipelago of covert interrogation centres, known as the black sites. Was transferred to military custody at Guantanamo in the fall of 2006, with thirteen other "high value detainees". The Bush administration announced plans for Abu Zubaydah and the other thirteen "high value detainees" to face charges before military commissions. The DoD has not convened a Competent Tribunal, to determine whether Abu Zubaydah has broken the laws of war, so that he is not entitled to the protections of Prisoner of War status, which many legal scholars argue the USA is obliged to do, to fulfill its responsibilities as a signatory of the Geneva Conventions. The DoD has not convened a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, to determine whether or not Abu Zubaydah should be classified as an enemy combatant. A 28 May 2008 article in the Hindustan Times reported the safehouse was a Lashkar-e-Toiba safehouse.[3]

References

1. Tim Mcgirk (8 April 2002). "Anatomy of a Raid". Time. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
2. Yossi Melman (28 November 2008). "Made in Pakistan". Haaretz. Retrieved 28 November 2008. Abu Zubaydah, considered one of the most senior Al-Qaida officials being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, was captured in March 2002 in a joint operation by United States and Pakistani intelligence forces at a Lashkar a-Tayeb safe house. mirror
3. Arun Kumar (28 May 2008). "US imposes sanctions on four Lashkar-e-Toiba leaders". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2008. LeT is also suspected of involvement in attacks in New Delhi in October 2005, and in Bangalore in December 2005. In March 2002, senior Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah was captured at a LeT safe house in Faisalabad, Pakistan.