Mohammad Nabi Omari
Mawlawi Mohammad Nabi Omari | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 Khost Province, Afghanistan |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Years active | 2021–present |
| Known for | First Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs of the Taliban administration; former Guantanamo detainee |
Mawlawi Mohammad Nabi Omari is an Afghan political figure currently occupying the position of First Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs within the Taliban administration, which lacks international recognition, since 6 October 2022. He also assumed the role of Acting Governor of Khost Province starting in August 2021.
Omari spent nearly twelve years detained at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detainment camp located in Cuba. Assigned the Guantanamo Internment Serial Number 832, he was born in 1968 in Khost Province, Afghanistan, and was transferred to Guantanamo on October 28, 2002.
The Brookings Institution reports that Omari faced accusations of connections to both al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership. During his Combatant Status Review Tribunal, he admitted to having worked for the Taliban before the September 11 attacks, but asserted that he later supported the Hamid Karzai administration and served covertly for a U.S. intelligence agent identified only as "Mark." Under the Obama administration’s Joint Review Task Force, Omari was classified among 71 detainees considered too innocent for formal charges yet too risky to release.
On June 1, 2014, Omari was transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar. He was included among the group known as the Taliban five, who were exchanged for U.S. Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl. This exchange was facilitated by Qatar’s Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with the condition that Omari and others remain under house arrest in Qatar for one year following their release.