Syria springs bin Laden terror pal to get back at US

New York Post ^ | January 31, 2012 | Staff Writer

[gandalftb]

DAMASCUS, Syria -- A top al Qaeda figure and one-time confidant of the late Osama bin Laden was apparently released by Syrian authorities in retaliation for Washington's position against the government of Bashar al Assad.

Spanish national Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, ranked number four within the terror organization, and another terrorist, Abu Khalid, were freed in late December.

Nasar, 53, is Syrian by birth and acquired Spanish nationality via marriage. He was last seen in Pakistan in 2005 before he reportedly was captured by Pakistani forces and handed over to US authorities.

Under the CIA's secret "extraordinary rendition" program, in which terror suspects were moved to a different country where they faced torture for information, Nasar was believed to have been transported to Syria, the newspaper reported.

Nasar is linked to several deadly terror attacks -- including the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, which resulted in 192 people dead, and the 1985 attack on a Madrid restaurant that killed 18 people, mostly Americans.

Nasar, who ran terror training camps in Afghanistan, had been a close ally of bin Laden.

[gandalftb]

Mustafa Setmariam Nasr, AKA Abu Musab al-Suri, 54, was born in Aleppo, but fled Syria in the wake of the crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982. His 1,600-page Call to Global Islamic Resistance was published in 2005.

Last August, the Shumoukh al-Islam online forum reported that Nasr was in a jail in the General Intelligence headquarters in the Kfar Susa neighborhood of Damascus.

The Shumoukh al-Islam online forum also stated “The sheikh (Nasar) saw in the past days a vision that he will have an important role in Bilad Al-Sham (Syria), we ask God that it becomes true,”.

He is arguably the most dangerous international Al Qaeda operative. He is closely aligned with the Taliban and now is likely in Af-Pak with the help of Iran.

We had him in custody and could have him in Gitmo right now. Instead we gave him to Syria, thinking they would keep him jailed forever as an AQ enemy and now we lean on Syria and get this payback.

[muleskinner]

The drones watch....and wait.

[TheBattman]

Hey Obama- your brothers in the faith are flipping us the bird. Of course, for the last several years- you have to... So never mind.