Muhammad Jafar Jamal al-Kahtani

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Muhammad Jafar Jamal al-Kahtani, born in 1973 in Saudi Arabia, was a detainee held by the United States in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility under extrajudicial detention. He is described as one of four men who escaped from Bagram on July 11, 2005. U.S. officials did not initially identify him by his real name. Some officials said he helped Al Qaeda’s operations in Afghanistan, while others called him an important fighter but not a senior leader. He and the other escapees were held in Cell 119, an isolation cell, and there were plans to transfer them to Guantanamo Bay.

Al-Kahtani appeared in an Al Qaeda video released later in 2005, and Radio Free Europe noted he appeared in a video with the other escapees in October 2005. On November 6, 2006, American officials announced that a known Al Qaeda operative and five other extremists had been captured in Khost Province. Asharq Alawsat later reported that one captured Saudi was identified as “Abu Nasir al-Qahtani,” who was later confirmed to be al-Kahtani. Xinhua reported the men were found with grenades, military equipment, armor-piercing rounds, AK-47s, and a camera with surveillance video. A Taliban spokesman said al-Kahtani was captured in a safe house near Khost Airport. He was extradited to Saudi Arabia on April 29, 2007.