Ex-Gitmo detainee and Leftist media darling Moazzam Begg charged with terrorism, attending Islamic State training camp

Thomas Joscelyn noted in the Weekly Standard in 2011: “Moazzam Begg and his organization, Cageprisoners, have proselytized on behalf of al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki and spread jihadist propaganda….Moazzam Begg’s own book confirms he is a jihadist….The Department of Justice’s investigation failed to substantiate Begg’s claims of torture, and found that his damning confession at Gitmo was voluntarily given….A recently leaked assessment of Begg prepared at Gitmo shows that military authorities recommended he remain in American custody….Amnesty International, which has partnered with Begg to demonize Guantanamo, endured a crisis when one of its top officials objected to the relationship.”

In the UK, of course, given its wholesale capitulation to Islamic supremacism, Begg has been heralded and lionized, lauded for his criticism of the Guantanamo “concentration camp.” In his off hours, however, he seems to have been up to even more insidious activities.

“U.K. charges ex-Gitmo detainee with terrorism, attending ISIL training camp,” by Phillip Swarts, The Washington Times, July 19, 2014:

A former detainee in Guantanamo Bay is pleading not guilty to terrorist charges stemming from the civil war in Syria.

Moazzam Begg, 45, is the latest former U.S. prisoner who has since been connected to terrorism. He was released in 2005 after appeals were made on his behalf by the United Kingdom.

The former detainee, Moazzam Begg, 45, has been charged in the U.K. on several counts related to his actions in Syria, including attending a terrorist training camp, the Belfast Telegraph reported Friday.

The situation comes less than a month after another former Gitmo detainee, Lahcen Ikassrien, was arrested in Spain for recruiting jihadist fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

And indeed the head of the ISIL itself, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was held in Iraq at a U.S.-run prison during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Camp Bucca.

Estimates differ as to how long he was a prisoner there, but the top end guess seems to be about four years.

The camp was closed in 2009. But when the detainees were transferred over to Iraqi control, many were released, including Mr. al-Baghdadi.