The New York Times reported that a Saudi national detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba on Thursday had pleaded guilty to terrorism-related offenses involving an Strait of Hormuz oil tanker attack believed to have been orchestrated by Al Qaeda in 2002. Before a military commission, the detainee, Ahmed Muhammed Haza al Darbi had agreed to a specific sentence, which means that the Saudi national will have the chance to leave the military prison. The NY Times said that Darbi had been held indefinitely due to his alleged involvement in the attack for about 11 years.
The deal, said the newspaper, will have Darbi testify against fellow Saudi Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who is a high-profile terrorism defendant. Nashiri was accused of co-planning several maritime attacks, which included the bombing of the American destroyer Cole in 2000 off the Yemen coast. He is also facing death-penalty charges before the military commission, and is reportedly involved in the attack by suicide bombers of Limburg, the French oil tanker that was taken out via an explosives-laden boat driven into the ship. The attack cost the life of one crew member and had injured 12 others, NY Times said.
As Judge Col. Mark Allred of the Air Force asked questions regarding his plea and deal agreement, Darbi said as translated by an interpreter, "I agree with all parts of the stipulation."
Darbi reportedly disclosed that he did helped plan an Al Qaeda operation to sink at least one civilian oil tankers near the water strip located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. He also said that he was the one who purchased boats, GPS devices and a hydraulic crane in the United Arab Emirates to be used for the attacks, and also admitted to handling funds that were reserved by Al Qaeda for the operations, NY Times added. Darbi also went on describing how he co-planned the attacks and acknowledged that civilians are to be killed in the operations.
Despite the fact that Darbi was in Guantánamo at the time of the Limburg attack, Allred believed that Darbi played a crucial role in the success of the operation. Allred stated, "Obviously you were not there, you were somewhere else. But the actual perpetrators were there and you are liable for their actions as a principal."
