4 June 2013

US transfers suspected senior Al-Qaeda member from Afghanistan to Mauritania

Mauritanian officials confirmed on Saturday 1 June that Younis al-Mauritani, a prisoner suspected of being a senior Al-Qaeda member, was transferred by the United States from the infamous Bagram military base in Afghanistan to his native Mauritania, an important Western ally against Al-Qaeda in the Sahel region.

Al-Mauritani was originally captured in Pakistan in 2011 in a joint US-Pakistani operation and was then suspected on planning attacks on US economic interests in Pakistan as well as European and Australian targets. Mauritania had issued an international arrest warrant against him pursuant to a deadly attack on an army base in 2005 and a police shootout in 2008.

Source: The New York Times | Mauritania Says U.S. Sent Prisoner From Afghan Base