US embassy cable - 04MADRID2712

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 002712 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/WCI (L. RICHARDS), EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2009 
TAGS: PREL, PINR, KJUS, PGOV, SP, Counterterrorism 
SUBJECT: SPAIN: GUANTANAMO DETAINEE RELEASED ON BAIL 
 
 
Classified By: CHG J. ROBERT MANZANARES, REASONS 1.4 (B, D) 
 
1.  (C) Legat and other agencies have met and consulted at 
length on the release on bail July 13 of Hamed Abderrahman 
Ahmed.  While there is disappointment within the rank and 
file of the Spanish National Police, they emphasize that it 
was a provisional release on bail.   Prosecutorial Magistrate 
Baltasar Garzon has not dropped the case.   He set the bail 
low, however, at 3,000 euros.  The police emphasize that 
Abderrahman is required to report on a daily basis to his 
local police headquarters and on a weekly basis to the 
courts.   The police continue to collect evidence.   As with 
other al Qaeda related cases (such as the al Qaeda cell led 
by Eddin Barakat Yarkas who was arrested in November 2001 and 
is still awaiting trial), a trial would likely not take place 
for several years. 
 
2. (C) The Department asked whether the USG had an 
arrangement with the Government of Spain that the USG would 
release Abderrahman to the Spanish only if they prosecuted 
him.   The USG did not premise the transfer specifically on 
an agreement to prosecute; though the USG emphasized to the 
USG our understanding he would be prosecuted, the Spanish 
government does not have authority over the Spanish court 
system or its magistrates.   In seeking Abderrahman's 
transfer, the MFA did tell us formally that he was sought by 
Spanish courts under the charge of membership in a terrorist 
organization. 
 
3. (C) Comment: Garzon is an outspoken critic of the US 
policy on Guantanamo detainees.   He is also the Spanish 
judiciary's most aggressive investigator of al Qaeda-related 
terrorists, having indicted over thirty, twelve of whom are 
in custody.   While bail for Abderrahman is low, the 
provisions of reporting daily to a police station are 
stringent by Spanish standards.   The media report that 
Abderrahman will live in his native Ceuta.   Regardless of 
Garzon's discomfort with Guantanamo, we expect that he will 
not drop the case if he has solid evidence against 
Abderrahman to present to the prosecutor.   The Spanish media 
have tended to portray Abderrahman as a victim of the US and 
skirt over or ignore his previous residence in Afghanistan 
and al Qaeda connections. 
 
 
MANZANARES