What dossier on Mohammed Salih al Dhuby says about him

A dossier on Mohammed Salih al Dhuby published by the New York Times, dated December 25, 2006, describes him as “a probable member of al-Qaida who utilized the al-Qaida travel network for access to Afghanistan and to receive militant training.”

Al Dhuby is classified as MEDIUM risk of threat to the US, its interests and allies, a MEDIUM threat from a detention perspective, and of MEDIUM intelligence value.

According to the narrative contained in his dossier, said to be his own account, Mohammed Salih al Dhuby who claims Yemeni citizenship, lived his entire life in Saudi Arabia.

He completed eight years of formal education prior to beginning Koran studies at the Haram al-Makki Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and is said to have worked various menial jobs at the mosque and local hotels.

While studying at the Haram al-Makki Mosque, al Dhuby met Abu Ali al-Yafi who showed him videos of fighting and training in Chechnya and convinced him that the Koran states that all men must know how to fight.

Mohammed Salih al Dhuby then became excited at the prospect and decided to travel to Afghanistan for training.

Al-Yafi is said to have facilitated his travel, including flight arrangement and funds and in early June 2001, they both flew from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, through the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, to Afghanistan.

The document states Mohammed Salih al Dhuby arrived in Kandahar and stayed at a guesthouse owned by an al-Qaida operative, where he studied the Koran for two months and began training with al-Qaida in early 2001, on familiarization with the Kalashnikov rifle, PK pistol, heavy machine gun, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and hand-to-hand combat.

According to the detainee he surrendered to Afghan forces after majority of his combat group was killed or seriously injured by an explosion.

By Emmanuel Odonkor