The Department of Defense announced the transfer of an Islamic State (ISIL) detainee to the Iraqi government in what it described as a “template” for future prisoner dealings, lessening the chances that ISIL militants will receive Guantanamo Bay-style indefinite detentions.
During a press briefing Thursday, Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook informed reporters that Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, a captured ISIL chemical weapons engineer, had been handed over to Iraqi authorities earlier in the day.
Dawud was picked up in Iraq last month by US forces in coordination with local soldiers. His capture was reported on Wednesday.
News of the transfer came on the same day that more than a dozen Republican senators signed on to a resolution calling on the administration to send ISIL prisoners to Guantanamo, where detainees from other post-9/11 conflicts have languished without charges or trial for more than 14 years. Cook used the Daoud case to hit out at those aims.
“We have a concrete example of an ISIL detainee, that we received information from this person, we’ve handed them over to the Iraqi government, and we think that’s a template for future cases,” he said.
Cook also alleged that intelligence provided by Dawud over the last month in US custody led to “multiple strikes” against ISIL’s chemical weapons capabilities.
He added that he anticipates that future detentions in the ISIL conflict “would be most likely of the short term nature.”
“This is a longer-term conflict,” a member of the press corps pushed back during the briefing. “How do you square that with only detaining them for a short time?” Cook was further asked if the US would have access to detainees transferred to Iraq custody. He refused to offer specifics.
“We’ve worked this out carefully with the Iraqi authorities, they are our partners in the fight against ISIL. We’re satisfied with the coordination between our two governments,” Cook responded. He didn’t state whether the US government had received assurances that prisoners wouldn’t be abused once turned over.
Last May, US forces picked up Nasrin As’ad Ibrahim, the wife of ISIL operative Abu Sayyaf, who was accused of playing an important role in the group’s activities. After detention and interrogation, Ibrahim was also transferred into Iraqi custody a few months later.
The resolution introduced on Thursday by conservatives states that captured ISIL fighters “must be detained outside the United States and its territories and should be transferred to United States Naval Station, Guantánamo Bay.” It has the support of two Republican presidential candidates, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
President Obama is currently working to close the military prison camp. He submitted plans to Congress to do so last month. It looks highly unlikely, however, that GOP lawmakers will overturn prisoners transfer bans to the US—an essential request in the administration’s closure plan.
