Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost

Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost
Born	1960 Afghanistan
Occupation	Militant
Known for	Involvement with the Taliban, founding figure of ISIS–Khorasan, former Guantanamo detainee, poet

Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost (عبد الرحیم مسلم دوست in Urdu; born 1960) is an Afghan militant associated with Salafi jihadism, recognized chiefly for his involvement with the Taliban and as a founding figure of the ISIS–K. His militant activities began at age 19 when he joined the Ikhwan and took part in the Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After evading capture, he escaped to Peshawar, Pakistan. By 1986, Dost returned to Afghanistan to engage in combat during the Soviet–Afghan War with Jamaat al-Dawah ila al-Quran wal-Sunnah, a Salafist group that preceded the Taliban. Following the Soviet forces’ withdrawal, he aligned himself with the Taliban’s ascent throughout the 1990s.

In the aftermath of the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan, Dost was detained at Guantanamo Bay, where he gained attention for his poetic compositions. After undergoing a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, he was released in April 2005 and returned to Peshawar. Shortly thereafter, Pakistan’s ISI apprehended him again. He was later freed in 2008 during a prisoner swap between Pakistani authorities and the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).

Between 2008 and 2014, Dost remained engaged with Taliban forces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In 2014, he pledged allegiance to ISIS’s Khorasan Province faction. However, by late 2015, he reportedly severed ties with ISIS–K, publicly denouncing its emir, Hafiz Saeed Khan, for authorizing attacks on civilians, though he continued to express loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

History

In 1979, Dost participated in the Grand Mosque seizure in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, an event led by Juhayman al-Otaybi. After Saudi forces retook control of the Mosque, Dost was detained but subsequently released and fled to Peshawar, Pakistan.

2001 capture by the United States

On November 17, 2001, Muslim Dost and his brother were captured and held until their release on April 17, 2005, without any formal charges. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 561.

During his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, allegations were made that Dost belonged to the militant organization Jamaat al Dawa al Quran (JDQ) and served as a liaison between JDQ and Al Qaeda. He admitted to joining JDQ during the period of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. His brother, also detained and known as a journalist, was released following his own Tribunal. Media outlets reported on their detentions prior to official detainee lists becoming public.

Dost became known for composing poetry while imprisoned, often using unconventional materials such as scratching verses onto polystyrene cups or writing with flexible pens. His memoir titled The Broken Chains is currently undergoing English translation.

Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost was among thirty-eight detainees whom the Bush Administration later classified as not enemy combatants. The Department of Defense refers to these individuals as No Longer Enemy Combatants.

He was freed on April 20, 2005, alongside sixteen other Afghans cleared by their Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The release event featured remarks from Afghan Chief Justice Fazl Hadi Shinwari. Reports indicate that Shinwari encouraged the men to interpret their detention as predestined by divine will and warned them against publicly recounting their experiences, cautioning that such disclosures might hinder other Afghan detainees’ chances for release.

Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost was one of three detainees who spoke publicly, openly disputing Chief Justice Shinwari’s position regarding Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo:

Chief Justice Shinwari divided Guantanamo detainees into three categories: those proven guilty warranting imprisonment; those wrongfully accused; and those detained due to errors made by American authorities.

Combatant Status Review Tribunal

At the outset, the Bush administration asserted that detainees captured during the war on terror were not entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions. This stance was met with legal opposition, contending that the United States was obligated to conduct competent tribunals to evaluate prisoners' status as lawful combatants.

Subsequently, the United States Department of Defense introduced the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. These tribunals did not officially determine lawful combatant status but instead assessed whether detainees fit the Bush administration’s classification of an enemy combatant.

Summary of Evidence memo

On 29 September 2004, a Summary of Evidence memo was compiled for Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal.

The memo outlined allegations including:

• Links to groups hostile toward the U.S. and coalition forces.
• Voluntary travel to Afghanistan in August 2001.
• Affiliation with Jamaat ud Dawa il al Quran al Sunnat (JDQ).
• Engagement in weapons training at Abdullah Abu Masood camp.
• JDQ functioning as a militant religious institution with military and assassination divisions.
• Acting as an Al Qaeda liaison in Herat, Afghanistan.

Transcript

Muslim Dost took part in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal. On March 3, 2006, following a judicial directive from Jed Rakoff, the Department of Defense released a sixteen-page summarized transcript.

Fox News reported that Muslim Dost was considered "too old and ill to return to combat" and that his intelligence value had been "fully exploited."

2006 capture by Pakistan

On September 30, 2006, the Chinese news agency Xinhua announced that Pakistani authorities had detained Muslim Dost. His brother suggested the arrest was connected to criticisms directed at the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate regarding its role in apprehending Guantanamo detainees. Although Peshawar Police Superintendent Iftikhar Khan denied awareness of the detention, he conceded that ISI agents might have conducted a secret operation. In 2008, Muslim Dost was freed as part of a prisoner exchange between the Pakistani Government and the Pakistani Taliban, who had been holding Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan and other hostages.

Affiliation with the Islamic State

In July 2014, Abdul Raheem Muslim Dost pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and began recruiting militants as well as disseminating propaganda for ISIS’s Khorasan faction within Afghanistan’s Nuristan and Kunar provinces, regions along the Afghan-Pakistan tribal areas, and Afghan refugee communities in Peshawar. In a video released that year, Dost described having a vision about restoring the Caliphate. He acknowledged supporting ISIS but denied occupying a leadership role.

By late 2015, Dost publicly renounced ISIS in Khorasan, criticizing its leadership and violent actions in Afghanistan; however, he reportedly continued to affirm loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the self-declared Islamic State Caliphate.

See also

• Poems From Guantánamo

External links

• VIDEO: Andrew Motion Performs Poems from Guantánamo
• "Within a Cuban Prison, the Spirit of a Poet Endured: An Afghan Formerly Detained by the U.S. Penned Verses on Paper Cups and Persisted in Writing", The Washington Post, April 24, 2005
• Former Detainees Recount Experiences at Guantanamo, BBC, May 2, 2005
• Outrage Over Alleged U.S. Koran Desecration, BBC, May 8, 2005
• Poetry as a Lifeline: Former Guantanamo Prisoners Describe Writing Thousands of Lines, San Francisco Chronicle, July 17, 2005
• Department of Justice Memorandum