The Rev. Franklin Graham Saturday bashed President Barack Obama after news reports that prisoner he released early from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay is now working with al-Qaida and has called for jihad in Africa.
"President Obama's terrorist catch-and-release policy is unreal,"
Graham said on Facebook. He leads both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Samaritan's Purse global charity.
"It's just a shame that our military are risking their lives — and giving their lives — to put these Islamic terrorists out of business and behind bars, only to have them put right back out there to do more damage."
Ibrahim Qosi, who once served as a bodyguard for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, released an audio tape on social media on Thursday urging jihad in Africa.
He told fighters in Somalia to "continue the raid with a raid, and light up the ground beneath the feet of the crusaders and teach them that the lands of Islam are a fortress that is not allowed to the disbelievers, and a graveyard for the invaders,"
ABC News reports.
"Victory is brought by blood and suffering, not by promises and wishes from every libertine," he said.
According to U.S. officials, Qosi fought or worked for al-Qaida from the early 1990s until he was captured by Pakistani forces in Afghanistan in December 2001.
He was described as "high risk" and of "high intelligence value" by U.S. officials — but was still released from Guantanamo Bay in July 2012 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and supporting terrorism, ABC News reports.
Qosi had originally been sentenced to 14 years, but it was lowered to two years because he had cooperated with authorities.
"This shouldn't surprise us," Graham said on Facebook. "Terrorists like this shouldn’t be released."
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