Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Freed Sudanese cameraman calls Gitmo history's worst jail (methinks he doth exaggerate a bit)
AP on Yahoo ^ | 5/5/08 | Mohamed Osman - ap

Posted on 05/05/2008 9:40:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

KHARTOUM, Sudan - An Al-Jazeera cameraman released from the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay detention center last week described it Monday as the worst prison mankind has ever seen.

Sami al-Haj, a Sudanese citizen, was whisked from his hospital bed in a convoy escorted by police cars with flashing lights and wailing sirens to an outdoor event in his neighborhood organized by his family. His speech was broadcast live on Sudanese television.

"After 2,340 days spent in the most heinous prison mankind has ever known, we are honored to be here. Thank you, and thank all those defended us and of our right in freedom," he told the cheering crowd.

Al-Haj was the only journalist from a major international news organization held at Guantanamo and many of his supporters saw his detention as punishment for an Arabic television channel whose broadcasts angered U.S. officials.

The U.S. military charged he was a courier for a militant Muslim organization, an allegation his lawyers denied.

Al-Haj said he believed he was arrested because of U.S. hostility toward Al-Jazeera and because the media was reporting on U.S. rights violations in Afghanistan.

"I was subjected to 130 (interrogation) sessions, more than 35 about Al-Jazeera, and they wanted me to be a spy against Al-Jazeera," he said. He said that as a faithful Muslim, he rejected the offer.

Al-Haj, who arrived in Khartoum early Friday aboard a U.S. military plane, thanked the Sudanese people and their warm reception, which he said had made him "forget the long bitter years that we spent in humiliation, injustice and subjugation and oppression."

Before Monday's outdoor welcome ceremony, al-Haj received visitors in his hospital room, including dozens of senior Sudanese officials who wished him a speedy recovery.

Though able to walk a short distance at the event in his neighborhood, al-Haj was still weak after a 16-month hunger strike at Guantanamo.

His attorney, Zachary Katznelson, who met with al-Haj at the U.S. base April 11, said he was emaciated because of the hunger strike. He said al-Haj had been having problems with his liver and kidneys and had blood in his urine.

Al-Haj was never prosecuted so the U.S did not make public its full allegations against him. But in a hearing that classified the cameraman as an enemy combatant, U.S. officials alleged that in the 1990s, al-Haj was an executive assistant at a Qatar-based beverage company that provided support to Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya.

Two other Sudanese detainees at Guantanamo were released with al-Haj.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aljazeera; cameraman; gitmo; sudanese; worstjail
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-23 last
To: 1st-P-In-The-Pod; 2ndDivisionVet; A_Conservative_in_Cambridge; af_vet_rr; agrace; Aiko; ...
FReepMail to be added or removed from this pro-Israel/Judaic/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

21 posted on 05/06/2008 3:30:11 PM PDT by Alouette (Vicious Babushka)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge

Another lying psychotic mutant. Don’t believe a word he says


22 posted on 05/06/2008 4:13:55 PM PDT by dennisw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NormsRevenge

He looks radiantly happy and well. So much for his tale of woe.


23 posted on 05/07/2008 1:01:40 AM PDT by Bellflower (A Brand New Day Is Coming!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-23 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson