View source for Ahmed Ghailani

{{Short description|Islamist terrorist; member of al-Qaeda (born 1974)}}
{{For|the Sufi leader|Ahmed Gailani}}
{{Infobox mass murderer
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1974|3|14}}
| spouse            = Married
| birth_place       = [[Zanzibar, Tanzania]]
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| name              = Ahmed Ghailani
| image             = Ghailani.jpg
| image_size        = 150px
| caption           = Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani<br />(FBI photo)
| conviction        = [[Conspiracy (criminal)|Conspiracy to destroy buildings and property of the United States resulting in death (18 U.S.C. § 844)]]
| criminal_penalty  = [[Life imprisonment]]
| organization      = [[Al-Qaeda]]
| apprehended       = July 25, 2004, in [[Gujrat, Pakistan]]
| criminal_status   = [[Incarcerated]]
| imprisoned        = [[USP McCreary]]
}}

'''Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani''' ({{langx|ar|أحمد خلفان الغيلاني}}, ''Aḥmad Khalifān al-Ghaīlānī''; born March 14, 1974) is a Tanzanian conspirator of the [[al-Qaeda]] [[terrorism|terrorist]] organization convicted for his role in the bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.<ref name="CSM-convicted">{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0125/Ahmed-Ghailani-gets-life-sentence-for-Al-Qaeda-bombing-of-US-embassies|title=Ahmed Ghailani gets life sentence for Al Qaeda bombing of US embassies|last=Richey|first=Warren|work=Christian Science Monitor|date=January 25, 2011|access-date=January 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131011421/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0125/Ahmed-Ghailani-gets-life-sentence-for-Al-Qaeda-bombing-of-US-embassies|archive-date=January 31, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ABC-convicted">{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/wireStory?id=12753950|title=Gitmo Detainee Gets Life Sentence in Embassy Plot|last=Hays|first=Tom|publisher=Associated Press|date=January 25, 2011|access-date=January 26, 2011}}</ref> He was indicted<ref name="indicted">[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011110104742/http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/pdfs/binladen/indict.pdf Copy of indictment: USA v. Usama bin Laden et al., Center for Nonproliferation Studies], [[Monterey Institute of International Studies]]; accessed November 19, 2014.</ref><ref name="GhailaniIndictment">{{cite news|url=http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/us-ahmed-ghailani2001sind.html|title=Superseding Indictment (U.S v. bin Laden, et al.)|date=March 2001|work=FindLaw|access-date=June 9, 2009}}</ref> in the United States as a participant in the [[1998 U.S. embassy bombings]]. He was on the [[FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]] list from its inception in October 2001. In 2004, he was captured and detained by [[Pakistan]]i forces in a joint operation with the [[United States]], and was held until  June 9, 2009, at [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]];<ref name=odni14>{{cite web|url=http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf|title=Detainee Biographies|publisher=[[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]]|archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20091119181208/http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf|archive-date=November 19, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> one of 14 Guantanamo detainees who had previously been held at secret locations abroad.<ref name="admitted">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070123114147/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/06/bush.speech/index.html Bush: CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons], [[CNN]], September 7, 2006.</ref> According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', Ghailani told military officers he is contrite and claimed to be an exploited victim of al-Qaeda operatives.<ref name=WashingtonPost2009-02-16>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/15/AR2009021501955_pf.html|title=4 Cases Illustrate Guantanamo Quandaries: Administration Must Decide Fate of Often-Flawed Proceedings, Often-Dangerous Prisoners|page=A01|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|author=Peter Finn|date=February 16, 2009|access-date=February 11, 2009}}</ref>

Ghailani was transported from Guantanamo Bay to New York City to await trial in the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]] in June 2009.<ref name="Guantanamo Bay Detainee Brought to U.S. for Trial">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/09/AR2009060900401.html|title=Guantanamo Bay Detainee Brought to U.S. for Trial|date=June 10, 2009|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 6, 2009|first=Peter|last=Finn}}</ref> When the case came to trial, the judge disallowed the testimony of a key witness. On November 17, 2010, a jury found him guilty of one count of conspiracy, but acquitted him of 284 other charges including all murder counts.<ref name="terror verdict">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/nyregion/19detainees.html?_r=1|title=Terror Verdict Tests Obama's Strategy on Civilian Trials|author=Charlie Savage|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 18, 2010}}</ref> Critics of the Obama administration said the verdict proves civilian courts cannot be trusted to prosecute terrorists since it shows a jury might acquit a defendant entirely.<ref name="terror verdict"/> Supporters of the trial have said that the conviction and the stiff sentencing prove that the federal justice system works.<ref name="Federal justice system works">{{cite news|url=http://blog.humanrightsfirst.org/2010/11/ghailani-verdict-makes-case-for-federal.html |title=Ghailani Verdict Makes the Case for Federal Courts |author=Daphne Eviatar |date=November 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203182019/http://blog.humanrightsfirst.org/2010/11/ghailani-verdict-makes-case-for-federal.html |archive-date=2010-12-03 }}</ref>

On January 25, 2011, U.S. District Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]], the presiding judge in the case, sentenced Ghailani, believed to be 36 years old at the time, to [[life in prison]] for the bombing,<ref name="CSM-convicted"/><ref name="ABC-convicted"/> stating that any suffering Ghailani experienced at the hands of the CIA or other agencies while in custody at Guantanamo Bay pales in comparison to the monumental tragedy of the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and left thousands injured or otherwise impacted by the crimes. The attacks were one of the deadliest non-wartime incidents of international terrorism to affect the United States; they were on a scale not surpassed until the [[September 11 attacks]] three years later. Ghailani, who had said he was never involved and did not intend to kill anyone, had been portrayed as cooperating with investigators—yielding information wanted by investigators—and as remorseful by his defense counsel, but that argument of relative non-involvement or remorse was not accepted. He is the fifth person to be sentenced. Four others were sentenced to life in prison in a 2001 trial in Manhattan federal court. [[Osama bin Laden]] was also named in the indictment.<ref name="indictment">{{cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/reports/pdfs/binladen/indict.pdf |title=United States v. Usama bin Laden, et al. |work=(indictment). Provided by the [[Monterey Institute of International Studies]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906010435/http://cns.miis.edu/reports/pdfs/binladen/indict.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-06 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Ghailani was born in 1974 in [[Zanzibar, Tanzania]]<ref name="odni14"/><ref>https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/82809-isn-10012-ahmed-khalfan-ghailani-jtf-gtmo/1db671ddbc7da98d/full.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=July 2025}}</ref> and is a Tanzanian citizen. He speaks [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and had served as a [[Tablighi Jamaat|tabligh]], a Muslim traveling preacher. The ''[[Denver Post]]'' printed a profile of [[Jeffrey Colwell]], a former [[colonel]] in the [[United States Marine Corps]], who had prepared to defend Ghailani, when he was in military custody.<ref name=DenverPost2013-02-24>
{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_22655096|title=Clerk's path to U.S. District Court in Denver wound through Gitmo|newspaper=[[Denver Post]]|author=Tom McGhee|date=February 24, 2013|archive-date=March 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301015849/http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_22655096|url-status=live}}</ref> Colwell visited Ghailani's family in Tanzania, in addition to getting to know Ghailani himself. According to Colwell "he was a young kid at that time who was sort of lured and used as a pawn."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2013/02/23/clerks-path-to-u-s-district-court-in-denver-wound-through-gitmo/|title=Clerk's path to U.S. District Court in Denver wound through Gitmo|date=February 23, 2013|publisher=[[Denver Post]]|last=McGhee|first=Tom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812213656/https://www.denverpost.com/2013/02/23/clerks-path-to-u-s-district-court-in-denver-wound-through-gitmo/|archive-date=August 12, 2022}}</ref>

==1998 U.S. embassy bombings==
After joining [[al Qaida|al-Qaeda]], he became an explosives expert and was assigned to obtain the bomb components in [[Dar es Salaam]] according to convicted fellow Embassy bombing conspirators [[Mohammed Odeh|Mohammed Sadiq Odeh]] and [[Khalfan Khamis Mohamed]]. This role was complicated by the fact that Ghailani could not drive so whatever purchases were too large or heavy for his bicycle such as [[oxygen]] and [[acetylene]] tanks would have to be picked up by another person in a car. Ghailani was in [[Nairobi, Kenya]] by August 6, 1998, where he is thought to have rented a room at the Hilltop Hotel used for meetings by the bombers and flew to [[Karachi]] on a [[Kenya Airways]] flight before the bombs exploded. At some time in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he married an [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]].<ref name="BBC">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3938133.stm Key al-Qaeda suspect arrested], ''[[BBC]]'', July 30, 2004.</ref>

==Wanted and arrest for terrorist activities==
On May 26, 2004, United States Attorney General [[John Ashcroft]] and [[FBI Director]] [[Robert Mueller]] announced that reports indicated that Ghailani was one of seven al-Qaeda members who were planning a terrorist action for the summer or fall of 2004. The other alleged terrorists named on that date were [[Fazul Abdullah Mohammed]], who had also been earlier listed with Ghailani by the FBI as a Most Wanted Terrorist for the 1998 embassy attack, and [[Abderraouf Jdey]], [[Amer El-Maati]], [[Aafia Siddiqui]], [[Adam Yahiye Gadahn]], and [[Adnan G. El Shukrijumah]]. Abderraouf Jdey was already on the [[FBI Seeking Information – War on Terrorism list]] since January 17, 2002, to which the other four were added as well.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/26/terror.threat.transcript Transcript: Ashcroft, Mueller news conference], CNN.com, May 26, 2004.</ref>

American [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] labeled the warning "suspicious". Dismissing the threat, they claimed it was solely to divert attention from President Bush's plummeting poll numbers and to push the failings of the [[Invasion of Iraq]] off the front page.<ref name="kerry">Pither, Kerry. ''Dark Days: The Story of Four Canadians Tortured in the Name of Fighting Terror'' (2008).<!-- publishing info, ISBN, page(s) needed --></ref> CSIS director [[Reid Morden]] voiced similar concerns, saying it seemed more like "election year" politics, than an actual threat—and ''[[The New York Times]]'' pointed out that one day before the announcement, they had been told by the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] that there were no current risks.<ref name="kerry"/>

His arrest was made by the Intelligence Bureau Pakistan in a raid with police commandos. On July 25, 2004, a nearly eight-hour battle ensued in the town of [[Gujrat city|Gujrat, Pakistan]] between security officials and terrorists. Ghailani and thirteen others, included his wife and children, were arrested. A police officer was wounded in the battle. Pakistani [[Interior ministry|Interior Minister]] [[Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat]] announced the capture of Ghailani on July 29, 2004.<ref name="BBC"/> The [[US Government]] had offered a $5,000,000 [[USD]] bounty offered for information leading to the arrest of Ghailani.<ref>[http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Ghailani Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426001237/http://www.rewardsforjustice.net/english/wanted_captured/index.cfm?page=Ghailani |date=2006-04-26 }}, RewardsforJustice.net; accessed 19 November 2014.</ref>

Some press reports (including the American magazine ''[[The New Republic|New Republic]]''<ref>[https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=20040719&s=aaj071904 "PAKISTAN FOR BUSH: July Surprise?"], ''The New Republic'', July 29, 2004.</ref>) questioned whether the timing of the announcement of Ghailani's capture was politically motivated. The announcement was made just hours before U.S. Presidential candidate [[John Kerry]] was due to make his acceptance speech at the [[2004 Democratic National Convention]], an event at which a candidate usually receives a significant boost in the polls. Hayyat made the announcement after midnight local time, despite having apparently known Ghailiani's identity for some days beforehand. Pakistani officials denied there was any such motivation. Soon after the capture of Ghailani and the others with him, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', quoting a [[United Nations]] source, said that Ghailani was one of several al-Qaeda personnel who had been in [[Liberia]] around 2001, handling [[conflict diamonds]] under the protection of then-dictator [[Charles G. Taylor|Charles Taylor]].<ref name="diamonds">[https://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2004/08/04/liberias_taylor_gave_aid_to_qaeda_un_probe_finds "Liberia's Taylor gave aid to al-Qaeda, UN probe finds"], ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', August 4, 2004.</ref>

==Combatant Status Review==
{{main|Combatant Status Review Tribunal}}
Ghailani was among the 60% of prisoners who participated in the tribunal hearings.<ref>[[OARDEC]], [http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_CSRT_detainees_testimony.pdf Index to Transcripts of Detainee Testimony and Documents Submitted by Detainees at Combatant Status Review Tribunals Held at Guantanamo Between July 2004 and March 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203004301/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/detainees/csrt_arb/index_CSRT_detainees_testimony.pdf |date=2007-12-03 }}, dod.mil, September 4, 2007.</ref> A Summary of Evidence memo was prepared for the tribunal of each detainee. The Ghailani memo accused him of the following:<ref name="csrtGhailani">{{cite web|url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/transcript_ISN10012.pdf|title=Verbatim Transcript of Open Session CSRT Hearing for ISN 10012|publisher=[[United States Department of Defense]]|date=March 17, 2007|author=OARDEC|author-link=OARDEC|access-date=October 20, 2004}}</ref>

The [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] announced on August 9, 2007, that all fourteen of the "high-value detainees" who had been transferred to Guantanamo from the CIA's [[black site]]s, had been officially classified as "enemy combatants".<ref name=Time20070809>{{cite news
| url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1651680,00.html
| title=Pentagon: 14 Guantanamo Suspects Are Now Combatants
| date=August 9, 2007
| publisher=[[Time magazine]]
| author=Lolita C. Baldur
| author-link=Lolita C. Baldur
| access-date=May 25, 2022
| archive-date=October 19, 2012
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019144816/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1651680,00.html
| url-status=dead
}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20201104104008/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20070324/ai_n18757735 mirror]</ref> Although judges [[Peter Brownback]] and [[Keith J. Allred]] had ruled two months earlier that only "''illegal'' enemy combatants" could face military commissions, the Department of Defense waived the qualifier and said that all fourteen men could now face charges before [[Guantanamo military commission]]s.<ref name=DoDKhadrChargesDismissed20070604>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46281
| title=Charges Dismissed Against Canadian at Guantanamo
| author=Sergeant Sara Wood
| author-link=Sara Wood (military writer)
| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]
| date=June 4, 2007
| access-date=2007-06-07
}}</ref><ref name=DoDHamdanChargesDismissed20070604>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46288
| title=Judge Dismisses Charges Against Second Guantanamo Detainee
| author=Sergeant
| author-link=Sergeant
| publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]
| date=June 4, 2007
| access-date=2007-06-07
}}</ref>

==Charged before a military commission==
[[File:48-tentcity.standalone.prod affiliate.56.JPG|thumb|left|The Bush Presidency planned to hold up to 80 of the new Congressionally authorized Military Commissions in a $12 million tent city.]]
The al-Qaeda suspect alleged to have been involved in the [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] that killed 223 people and injured approximately 4,085 faced nine war crimes charges, six of them offenses that could have carried the death penalty, if he was convicted by a military tribunal, it was reported on March 31, 2008.<ref name=cnn310308>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/03/31/embassy.bomb.suspect/index.html|title=Tanzania bombing suspect charged with war crimes|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=March 31, 2008|access-date=March 31, 2008}}</ref> [[Scott L. Fenstermaker]] and [[David Remes]] were in a rare dispute {{Clarify|date=November 2014}} as to who was authorized to assist Ghaliani.<ref name=AMLaw2008-05-29>{{cite news|url=http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/05/covington-burli.html|title=Covington & Burling partner takes on defense of Guantanamo death penalty case|publisher=AM Law Daily|author=Daphne Eviatar|date=May 29, 2008|access-date=December 10, 2008}}</ref>

In June 2009, Ghailani was transferred to New York to face trial in a federal court.<ref name="BBC Guantanamo detainee arrives in NY">{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8091013.stm|title=Guantanamo detainee arrives in NY|date=June 9, 2009|work=[[BBC Online]]|publisher=BBC|access-date=June 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610011625/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8091013.stm|archive-date=June 10, 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The Department of Justice, under U.S. Attorney General [[Eric Holder]], directed the [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York|U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York]], [[Preet Bharara]], not to seek the death penalty in an October 2009 memorandum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/attorney-general-eric-holder-decides-death-penalty-us/story?id=8758768|title=Holder Decides No Death Penalty for U.S. Embassy Bomber |date=October 5, 2009|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|last=Ryan|first=Jason}}</ref>

==Transfer to the United States==
[[File:MCC New York jeh.JPG|thumb|[[Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City]], where Ghailani was formerly located]]
[[File:Supermax prison, Florence Colorado.jpg|thumb|[[ADX Supermax]] where Ghailani was located until May of 2019.|alt=]]
On August 31, 2009, ''Corrections One'', a [[trade journal]] for the prison industry, speculated that Ghailani was one of ten detainees they speculated might be moved to a maximum security prison in [[Standish, Michigan]].<ref name=CorrectionsOne2009-08-31>{{cite news|url=http://www.correctionsone.com/news/1879631-Profile-of-10-U-S-bound-Gitmo-detainees|title=Profile of 10 U.S.-bound Gitmo detainees|date=August 31, 2009|author=Kathryn Lynch-Morin|publisher=Corrections One|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708193423/http://www.correctionsone.com/news/1879631-Profile-of-10-U-S-bound-Gitmo-detainees/|archive-date=July 8, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=August 2, 2009}}</ref> Instead, Ghailani was transferred to [[New York City]] to stand trial in a civilian court there. He learned that being transferred from military to civilian jurisdiction meant that he could no longer be assisted by [[Colonel]] [[Jeffrey Colwell]] and [[Major (rank)|Major]] Richard Reiter.<ref name=WallStreetJournal2009-11-23>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091118-712744.html|title=Guantanamo Detainee Can't Keep Military Lawyers|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=November 23, 2009|author=Chad Jones|archive-url=https://archive.today/20091123195839/http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091118-712744.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 23, 2009}}</ref><ref name=AssociatedPress2009-11-23>{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jYEZX8290oAg3BJaHnv9M4E8C09AD9C24DLO0|title=Military can reassign Gitmo detainee's lawyers|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 23, 2009|author=Larry Neumeister|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240524190329/https://www.webcitation.org/5lVVzF3QF?url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jYEZX8290oAg3BJaHnv9M4E8C09AD9C24DLO0|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 24, 2024}}</ref><ref name=Reuters2009-11-23>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5AH4HO20091118|title=Guantanamo suspect denied military lawyers in N.Y.|work=Reuters|date=November 23, 2009|author=Christine Kearney|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121120311/http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5AH4HO20091118|url-status=live|archive-date=November 21, 2009}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes2009-11-23>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/nyregion/19lawyers.html|title=Bomb Suspect Can't Keep His Military Lawyers|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 23, 2009|author=Benjamin Weiser|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022343/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/nyregion/19lawyers.html|url-status=live|archive-date=June 29, 2018}}</ref>

On February 10, 2010, [[United States district court]] Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]] ordered the Prosecution to review the record of Ghailani's detention in CIA's network of [[black sites]].<ref name=NYTimes2010-02-11>
{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/nyregion/11ghailani.html?pagewanted=print|title=U.S. Told to Review Files on Terror Case Detention|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 10, 2010|author=Benjamin Weiser|access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'' any materials that showed the decisions “were for a purpose other than national security” had to be turned over to Ghailani's lawyers. It was reported that Kaplan was considering dismissing the charges on the grounds that due to Ghailani's long extrajudicial detention he had been denied the [[United States Constitution|constitutional right]] to a speedy trial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/amr510052011en.pdf|title=USA: SEE NO EVIL, GOVERNMENT TURNS THE OTHER WAY AS JUDGES MAKE FINDINGS ABOUT TORTURE AND OTHER ABUSE|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|date=February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203173931/https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/amr510052011en.pdf|archive-date= December 3, 2022}}</ref>

On April 23, 2010, a 52-page unclassified summary of Ghailani's 2007 Guantanamo interrogations was published in preparation for his trial.<ref name=NYTimes-2010-04-23>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/nyregion/24terror.html?pagewanted=print |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104141810/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/nyregion/24terror.html?pagewanted=print |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 4, 2013 |title=Court Filing Sheds Light on Bin Laden Bodyguard |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 23, 2010 |author=Benjamin Weiser |access-date=April 24, 2010 |quote=The exchange, straightforward and as banal as any job interview might be, is recounted in a declassified 52-page summary of an interrogation of Mr. Ghailani by federal agents, which was made public Friday night in a filing in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The filing is part of the government's response to Mr. Ghailani's demand that his indictment be dismissed because of “outrageous government conduct”. He was detained for nearly five years in secret C.I.A. prisons and later at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. }}</ref>

Benjamin Weiser, writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the summary, published during Ghailani's civilian trial, revealed new details about his life as an [[Osama bin Laden bodyguard]]. According to Weiser, the interrogation summary asserted that during the year he was a bodyguard Ghailani met several other individuals who were among those who later became [[hijackers in the September 11 attacks]]. Following his work as a bodyguard, the summary asserts Ghailani became a forger, where he became ''"very good with Photoshop"''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/nyregion/24ghailani.html|title=Conspirator's Path From Poverty as a Boy in Zanzibar to bin Laden's Side|website=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203172508/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/nyregion/24ghailani.html|archive-date=December 3, 2022}}</ref>
Ghailani's trial commenced on October 4, 2010, in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Court Building in lower Manhattan, in front of U.S. District Court Judge [[Lewis A. Kaplan]]. There were no protests or demonstrations during the trial, as observed by [[Human Rights First]].<ref name="First Guantanamo Trial in New York City: So Not Scary">{{cite video|url=http://blog.humanrightsfirst.org/search/label/ahmed%20ghailani |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121220212903/http://blog.humanrightsfirst.org/search/label/ahmed%20ghailani |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 20, 2012 |title=First Guantanamo Trial in New York City: So Not Scary |author=Daphne Eviatar |date=October 1, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="Gitmo Trial Hits NYC; Manhattan Yawns">{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I-W3JXAHBU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/6I-W3JXAHBU |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Gitmo Trial Hits NYC; Manhattan Yawns|author=Human Rights First|date=September 30, 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On October 6, 2010, in a short ruling that the judge said he would expand upon later that day, it was determined that a key witness, the Tanzanian Hussein Abebe, who may have issued statements crucial to implicating Ghailani during the time he was under CIA custody, would not be testifying in the trial. Judge Kaplan agreed to delay the start of the trial until the following Tuesday, October 12, 2010, pending a possible appeal of that ruling. On October 11, 2010, the government announced it would not appeal Judge Kaplan's ruling. Steve Zissou, one of Ghailani's lawyers, commented that the government's decision not to appeal was "a significant victory for the Constitution".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-10-06 |title=Judge Bars Key Prosecution Witness from Testifying at Ghailani Trial {{!}} WQXR News |url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/97123-judge-bars-key-prosecution-witness-testifying-ghailani-trial |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=WQXR |language=en}}</ref>

On November 17, 2010, Ghailani was convicted of conspiracy, but acquitted of all the other charges.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/nyregion/18ghailani.html?_r=0|title=Detainee Acquitted on Most Counts in '98 Bombings|date=November 17, 2010|last=Weiser|first=Benjamin|work=[[New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518195736/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/nyregion/18ghailani.html|archive-date=May 18, 2017}}</ref> On January 25, 2011, Ghailani was sentenced to life in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0125/Ahmed-Ghailani-gets-life-sentence-for-Al-Qaeda-bombing-of-US-embassies|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113191059/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0125/Ahmed-Ghailani-gets-life-sentence-for-Al-Qaeda-bombing-of-US-embassies|title=Ahmed Ghailani gets life sentence for Al Qaeda bombing of US embassies|date=January 25, 2011|archive-date=January 13, 2022|last=Richey|first=Warren|publisher=[[Christian Science Monitor]]}}</ref>

On May 10, 2019, Ghailani was transferred from [[ADX Florence]] in Colorado, to [[United States Penitentiary, McCreary]], in Kentucky as BOP number 02476-748.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6496MO20100510?type=domesticNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews Guantanamo man loses torture bid to avoid U.S. trial], reuters.com, May 10, 2010
* [http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/us-ahmed-ghailani2001sind.html Superseding Indictment] (U.S v. bin Laden, et al.), findlaw.com; accessed November 19, 2014 
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/nyregion/12ghailani.html Lawyer: Feds Chose Torture Over Trial for Detainee], nytimes.com, January 11, 2010
* [http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/01/20101121515870754.html Call to throw out Guantanamo case], aljazeera.net, January 12, 2010
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060614170230/http://www.amnesty.ca/english/main_article_home/elmaatichronology.pdf Chronology Amnesty International], amnesty.ca; accessed November 19, 2014
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/17/jury_appears_deadlocked_in_landmark_civilian Jury Appears Deadlocked in Civilian Trial (video report)], democracynow.org, November 17, 2010; accessed November 19, 2014.

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{{Al-Qaeda}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghailani, Khalfan}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:1998 United States embassy bombings]]
[[Category:Date of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:FBI Most Wanted Terrorists]]
[[Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released]]
[[Category:Inmates of ADX Florence]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Islamist mass murderers]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government]]
[[Category:Tanzanian al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Tanzanian expatriates in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Tanzanian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States]]
[[Category:Tanzanian people imprisoned in the United States]]
[[Category:Tanzanian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]