RIYADH: A former Guantanamo prisoner and two other terrorists from Saudi Arabia’s most-wanted list were killed in an explosion in September, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said Monday.
The three have been identified as former detainee Fahd Saleh Suleiman Al-Jutaily as well as Mohammed Abdul Rahman Suleiman Al-Rashed and Sultan Radi Somaileel Al-Otaibi. All three were in their late 20s.
“They were killed together with several others on Sept. 14. There was a group of them meeting and an explosion occurred,” the spokesman said. “We got DNA samples for all those who were killed in that explosion for identification.” Al-Turki did not explain the circumstances surrounding the blast, but an earlier report from the Arabic daily Al-Hayat claimed Jutaily had been killed in northern Yemen in an attack by Yemeni government troops.
Jutaily joined Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001 before being captured and eventually sent to Guantanamo Bay by US forces, according to US military records. He was released in 2006 and put through a Saudi rehabilitation program, but he traveled to Yemen and re-established links with Al-Qaeda.
He is one of about a dozen former detainees out of more than 120, who dropped out of the program and returned to militancy.
Rashed left the country with false travel documents six years ago and was known to have joined up with Al-Qaeda, while Otaibi left in similar circumstances four years ago, the spokesman said.
He added that the three were on the Saudi list of 85 most wanted people. The list was published and sent to Interpol nearly a year ago. Since then, three have turned themselves in to Saudi authorities and six are known to have died or been killed.
Reports of the deaths of several others have not been confirmed. Authorities are still hunting for 76 militants on the list.
