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Sunday, January 25, 2015

Exclusive: Americans Offered Up in Al Qaeda Swap

DEVIL'S PACT

January 25, 2015

By Shane Harris and James Kirchick


An American couple's freedom may have come at a steep price: the release of a convicted terrorist from Supermax prison.

Before he was released from a U.S. maximum security prison last week, a confessed al Qaeda sleeper agent was offered up in a potential prisoner swap that would have freed two Americans held abroad.

The Daily Beast has learned that the proposal was floated in July 2014 to the then-U.S. ambassador in Qatar by an individual acting on behalf of that country's attorney general. According to two individuals with direct knowledge of the case, the proposition was made shortly after the Obama administration traded five Taliban fighters for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Those fighters were also sent to Qatar, where they're to remain under government watch until later this year. U.S. officials have said they're at risk of plotting further attacks against the United States.

Read the rest of this article on The Daily Beast



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