Two years ago, Prisoners of Christ — a halfway house in Jacksonville, Fla. — contacted the local Salvation Army to offer the men in its program as bell ringers. The Salvation Army was initially skeptical. POC's men are all recently released criminal offenders, some of whom have served decades behind bars, and most of whom have substance abuse problems. But POC persevered and, for its efforts, won a few hours of bell-ringing for a few of its men.
You might wonder why anyone would want to put such men in charge of buckets of donated money. POC's team will tell you: trust. These men lost society's trust, but have paid their debts and now need a chance to prove to others, and especially themselves, that they're trustworthy.
WASHINGTON – At least one released Guantanamo Bay detainee has returned to a leadership role with al-Qaeda, as a member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to a website that focuses on the global war against Islamic extremists. The man was once one of Osama bin Laden's personal body guards.
In a video, "Guardians of Sharia," that the LongWarJournal.com brought to light, reporter Thomas Jocelyn says Ibrahim Qosi, also known as Sheikh Khubayb al Sudani, appears in a long discussion with other leaders of the Yemen group. They talk about their involvement in the jihadist movement and commend those who attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris, an action Qosi's group sanctioned. A dozen people died in that January 2015 attack.
