WASHINGTON (AP) — During six years behind bars at Guantanamo Bay, Abdul Rauf insisted he was a lowly Taliban foot soldier who delivered bread and tea to combatants, even though he was really a corps commander. He was released in 2007 and sent home to Afghanistan. Until this week, he was working as the top recruiter in Afghanistan for Islamic State militants.
Rauf, who was killed along with seven others in a U.S. drone strike on Monday, and detainees like him who have returned to the battlefield are complicating President Barack Obama’s hopes of closing the detention center for terrorism suspects on the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The administration says the prison is costly, damages America’s relationship with key allies and provides extremists a propaganda tool to woo recruits. Continue reading “Gitmo detainee’s turn to IS hampers effort to close prison”