WASHINGTON
— A one-year travel ban is expiring for five senior Taliban leaders
held in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until they were released
last year in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, raising the possibility
that the five can move freely around the world as early as Monday.
Under
terms of the exchange in May 2014, the five detainees were sent to
Qatar where officials there agreed to monitor their activities and
prevent them from traveling out of the country. In return, Bergdahl was
released to the U.S. military after being held captive by the Taliban
for nearly five years after he walked away from his Army post in
Afghanistan.
U.S.
officials have discussed with the Qataris the possibility of extending
the travel ban after it expires on June 1. But so far, the White House
has not publicly announced any new agreement with Qatar, meaning the
five could leave the tiny nation on the Arabian Peninsula at the end of
the month.
"In
Congress, we spent a lot of time debating whether the Qataris were
going to adequately keep an eye on them in the course of the 12 months,"
said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House
Intelligence committee. "My point all along was that I'm more worried
about month No. 13 than the first 12."
Schiff
has been privy to the details of the still-secret memorandum of
understanding the U.S. reached with Qatar that put the five under a
12-month watch following their release.
"The
Qataris did pretty good — I wouldn't say perfect," he said about the
year-long monitoring. "But the big question is what comes next."
At
least one of the five allegedly contacted militants during the past
year while in Qatar. No details have been disclosed about that contact,
but the White House confirmed that one was put under enhanced
surveillance. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, said last week: "I know that at least one has had
communication with the Taliban."
One
or more of the detainees had some members of the al-Qaida-affiliated
Haqqani militant group travel to Qatar to meet with them earlier in the
year, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. That was an indication
that the group was reaching out to communicate with so-called Taliban
Five, said Graham, who predicts all five will rejoin the fight.
Four
of the five former detainees remain on the United Nations' blacklist,
which freezes their assets and has them under a separate travel ban. But
the U.N. itself has acknowledged that its travel ban has been violated.
In a report late last year, the U.N. sanctions committee stated:
"Regrettably, the monitoring team continues to receive a steady — albeit
officially unconfirmed — flow of media reports indicating that some
listed individuals have become increasingly adept at circumventing the
sanctions measures, the travel ban in particular."
The
State Department insists that U.S. officials work to mitigate the risk
of former Guantanamo detainees returning to the fight, threatening
Americans or jeopardizing U.S. national security. U.S. officials have
noted in the past that the five Taliban leaders are middle-aged or
older, were former officials in the Taliban government and probably
wouldn't be seen again on any battlefield, although they could continue
to be active members of the Taliban.
Members
of Congress have repeatedly expressed concern about what will happen
after the travel ban expires. They have asked the Obama administration
to try to persuade Qatar to extend the monitoring.
"It's
impossible for me to see how they don't rejoin the fight in short
order," said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
Sen.
Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote Defense Secretary Ash Carter in March,
asking him to take any step necessary to make sure the five do not
return to the battlefield in Afghanistan. And earlier this month, the 13
Republican members of the House Intelligence committee wrote President
Barack Obama asking him to urge Qatar to extend travel restrictions on
the former detainees indefinitely.
"If,
as scheduled, Qatar permits these five former detainees to possess
passports and travel to Afghanistan or Pakistan when the memorandum of
understanding expires on June 1, they will be at liberty to play an even
more direct role in attacks against the men and women of our military,"
they wrote.
Many
lawmakers from both parties were irate when the five Guantanamo
detainees were swapped for Bergdahl, who recently was charged with
desertion. They complained that the White House did not give Congress a
30-day notification of the transfer, which is required by law. The White
House said it couldn't wait 30 days because Bergdahl's life was
endangered.
After
the transfer, the House Armed Services Committee demanded the Pentagon
release internal documents about the swap. The committee received
hundreds, but lawmakers complain that they are heavily redacted. The
committee inserted language in the fiscal 2016 defense policy bill that
threatens to cut Pentagon spending by about $500 million if the Defense
Department doesn't provide additional information about the exchange.
Army
Lt. Col. Joe Sowers, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said the
Pentagon has provided the committee with more than 3,600 pages of
documents and redactions have been minimal.
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