Former Gitmo inmates arrested on terrorism charges

Reuters reports that Belgium has arrested two former Guantanamo detainees on charges of terrorism. Both were held at Gitmo between 2001 and 2005. They were then sent to Belgium, spent time in prison there, and eventually were released.

Now, according to the government of Belgium, they are promoting terrorism. Specifically, they are accused of seeking recruits to fight in Syria. Belgium is, per capita, the largest European supplier of Islamist fighters for Syria.

The criminality of the two former Gitmo inmates extends beyond recruiting fighters. At the time of their arrest, the two were in a car and believed to be waiting to commit a robbery, according to a spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor.

We would have done the world, and ourselves, a big favor had we kept these two and so many others like them in captivity at Guantanamo Bay. But the Obama administration is doubling down on bad policy. On Wednesday, it announced that it is in the final stage of drafting a plan for closing Gitmo altogether.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey points out that one of the two former Gitmo inmates arrested in Belgium — Moussa Zemmouri — wrote a book titled Innocent at Guantanamo which made him the darling of activists determined to shame the US into closing Gitmo.

Zemmouri’s arrest is the latest instance of Gitmo detainee recidivism that should shame President Obama into abandoning his promise to close the prison. But it won’t. Reality often confounds Obama but never shames him into accommodating it.

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