Page:ARB Transcript 2196-2293.pdf/60

 Detainee (through translator): From Riyadh, I took a bus to Jordan. I did not stay in Jordan. I went to Syria, Damascus where I spent three to four days waiting for airfare to travel to Afghanistan. From Damascus I waited for a friend to fly to Iran. I stayed six to seven hours in Tehran before arriving in Mashhad. I remained in Mashhad 48 hours before arriving in Afghanistan.

Presiding Officer: The route you described was used very much in early 2001 for people traveling to Afghanistan for the purpose of waging jihad.

Detainee (through translator): What is the troubling point about this?

Presiding Officer: Did you see any other people going to jihad as you were on your way there?

Detainee (through translator): There was only one person with me.

Presiding Officer: Tell me about that person.

Detainee (through translator): He is a relative. We went together to Afghanistan, and then we separated in Kabul.

Presiding Officer: A cousin?

Detainee (through translator): Yes, a cousin.

Designated Military Officer: (3.a.5) After their travel was approved the detainee went from Damascus, Syria to Tehran, Iran.

Detainee (through translator): Yes.

Designated Military Officer: (3.a.6) The next day, the detainee and his friend went to Mashed, Iran. They stayed in Mashed for two days then took a taxi to the Afghan border. The town located at the border crossing was Taibat, Iran. The detainee showed the Iranian border guards his passport, which they copied and then allowed him to cross on foot into Afghanistan.

Detainee (through translator): True.

Designated Military Officer: (3.a.7) The detainee and his friend were asked why they had come to Afghanistan, and they said that they were there to join the jihad. They stayed at the guest house for approximately one week during Ramadan in the winter of 2000, waiting for a large enough group to gather to be sent to training. After approximately eight or nine Arabs had gathered at the guest house, the group was taken