Sami bin Khamis bin Salih Essid
a.k.a. Essid Sami Ben Khemais was the head of al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

's Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 cell until his arrest outside Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 in April 2001. He received a five-year sentence for trafficking in arms, explosives, and chemicals. Essid remains under embargo by the United Nations Security Council Committee 1267

United Nations Security Council Committee 1267

The 1267 Committee , was established on 15 October 1999, pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1267 concerning Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and/or the Taliban and associated individuals and entities. The 1267 Committee is one of three Security Council committees dealing with counter-terrorism...

 as an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and by the US Treasury

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...

 for his terrorist activity. Around 1 July 2007, fresh charges against Sami Essid were read in Italy, where he was still in custody.

According to the UN he was born on 10 February 1968 in Menzel Jemil, Bizerte Governorate

Bizerte Governorate

Bizerte Governorate is the northernmost of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in northern Tunisia. It covers an area of 3,685 km² and has a population of 524,000 . The capital is Bizerte...

, Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

.

He phoned a cell phone held by Saber Mohammed

Saber Mohammed

Saber Mohammed, an Iraqi nationalist who opposed Saddam Hussein, pleaded guilty to agreeing to help facilitate Islamic extremism in Brussels in 2004....

 - believed to have been acting as a messenger for Mosa Zi Zemmori

Mosa Zi Zemmori

Hafiz Mosa Zi Zemmori is a Belgian citizen who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.-Life:...

 and Driss Elatellah.

Guantanamo connection

Following the United States Supreme Court ruling in Rasul v. Bush

Rasul v. Bush

Rasul v. Bush, 542 U.S. 466 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision establishing that the U.S. court system has the authority to decide whether foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay were wrongfully imprisoned...

, the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 was forced to conduct reviews of the combatant status of the captives held in extrajudicial detention in its Guantanamo Bay detainment camp

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...

s, in Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

.

The allegations that Guantanamo counter-terror analysts offered to justify the detention of several of these captives assert that they had an association with Sami Essid, or the Sami Essid Network.

Alleged connections between Sami Essid and Guantanamo captives

Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi is a citizen of Tunisia currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on January 24, 1965, in Unfidel, Tunisia and assigned him the Internment Serial Number 38.As of August 16, 2011, Ridah...	Two of the allegations against Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi Ridah Bin Saleh Al Yazidi is a citizen of Tunisia currently held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.The Department of Defense reports that he was born on January 24, 1965, in Unfidel, Tunisia and assigned him the Internment Serial Number 38.As of August 16, 2011, Ridah...  were: "The detainee attemded the Islamic Cultural Institute Islamic Cultural Institute (Milan) The Islamic Cultural Institute in viale Jenner, Milan, Italy is notable because, according to counter-terror analysts at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba, it was shut down by Italian authorities, based on an association with terrorism....  in Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,... . One of the leaders of the mosque was Sheikh Sheikh Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...  Anwar Sha'ban who spoke frequently of the Jihad Jihad Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...  ongoing in Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the... . Sheikh Anwar Sha'ban was subsequently killed in the fighting in Jihad in Bosnia. "The Italian Islamic Culltural Institute, referred to as ICI, was shut down by Italian authorities for housing the Sami Essid Ben Khemais network, which is the core for the Tunisian Combat Group Tunisian Combat Group The Tunisian Combat Group or Tunisian Fighting Group is or was a loose network of terrorists who aspire to install an Islamist government in Tunisia....  in Italy.
Adel Ben Mabrouk	Two of the allegations against Adel Ben Mabrouk were: "The detainee was a member of the Sami Essid Network." "The Sami Essid Network provides financial support to terrorist groups." Mabrouk denied any knowledge of the Sami Essid Network.
Lufti Bin Ali Lufti Bin Ali Lotfi Bin Ali is a Tunisian currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.When the Department of Defense released a full list of all the detainees from Guantanamo it published an estimate that he was born in 1965, in Tunis, Tunisia.As of...	Two of the allegations against Lufti Bin Ali Lufti Bin Ali Lotfi Bin Ali is a Tunisian currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.When the Department of Defense released a full list of all the detainees from Guantanamo it published an estimate that he was born in 1965, in Tunis, Tunisia.As of...  were: "The detainee met Pakistanis from the ICI Mosque in Milan Milan Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...  who were trying to recruit people to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan." "The Islamic Cultural Institute Islamic Cultural Institute (Milan) The Islamic Cultural Institute in viale Jenner, Milan, Italy is notable because, according to counter-terror analysts at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba, it was shut down by Italian authorities, based on an association with terrorism....  was known as the ICI. This mosque was shut down by Italian authorities for housing the Sami Essid Ben Khemais network, which is the core for the Tunisian Combat Group Tunisian Combat Group The Tunisian Combat Group or Tunisian Fighting Group is or was a loose network of terrorists who aspire to install an Islamist government in Tunisia.... (TCG) in Italy."