Condemn Gitmo transfer; MP tells Chief Imam

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, Ken Ohene Agyapong, has called on the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr. Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, to intervene and kick against the decision by government to host two Guantanamo ex-detainees.

In an interview with Asempa FM’s Kwadwo Asare-Baffour Acheampong on 'Ekosii Sen' Monday January 11, 2015, the MP said the country does not have the capacity to monitor the two without any untoward consequences.

“What equipment, instrument, and logistics does Ghana have to monitor the activities of the detainees to prevent trouble?” he asked.

According to him, accepting the detainees will only provoke trouble and cause separations among the otherwise united Muslim community we have in Ghana adding that, “in Ghana, Muslims and Christians live in peace”.

“Hosting these detainees could lead to divisions amongst Muslims. I want to plead with the National Chief Imam to intervene”.

The MP said he was disappointed by the action of President John Mahama and added that “there is no amount of money that can repair the damage they [detainees] can cause our country” and backed calls to have the two returned to the US authorities.

He lauded the Christian Council of Ghana for condemning the decision by government and appealed to the National Chief Imam to also do same.

On 11 December, 2015, Daily Mail UK reported of an ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee, who later joined the al-Qaeda militant group, after his release.

Ibrahim Qosi, who is also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani worked as Osama Bin Laden's treasurer. He was spotted in an al-Qaeda propaganda video after secretly joining the extremists in Yemen.

He was initially detained in Guantanamo Bay in 2003 after he was arrested by the Pakistani military at Tora Bora, Afghanistan in December 2001.

He was released in 2012 and now believed to be a top leader in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen.