Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 2, 2007
By David Stringer, Associated Press
LONDON - A British resident released from Guantanamo Bay after nearly five years in captivity said yesterday in his first comments since his release that his detention at the U.S. prison camp was "profoundly difficult" to endure.
Bisher al-Rawi, 37, an Iraqi national, had been held at the U.S. base in Cuba since it opened in 2002, but was reunited with his family in south London over the weekend.
British officials have long refused to represent resident foreigners held at Guantanamo, but took up Rawi's case after it was disclosed that he had provided assistance to MI5, Britain's domestic spy agency.
Rawi's U.S. lawyer, George Brent Mickum IV, said last year that Rawi had agreed during one of at least six interviews with British agents at Guantanamo to work for the British security service in exchange for his release. Nothing came of the offer, Mickum said.
Mickum declined to comment on the case yesterday, except to say that Rawi "is delighted to be back home with his family."
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Thursday that Rawi's release had been agreed to, but officials and lawyers have not disclosed precisely when the detainee was freed and flown to Britain.
"After over four years in Guantanamo Bay, my nightmare is finally at an end," Rawi said in a statement. "I also feel great sorrow for the other nine British residents who remain prisoners in Guantanamo Bay."
Britain's Foreign Office said only five foreign nationals resident in Britain are held at the prison camp, in Cuba.
Rawi and another British resident, Jamil el-Banna, were alleged to have been associated with al-Qaeda through their connection with the London-based radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada. Rawi had lived in Britain since 1985, and Banna was granted refugee status in Britain in 2000.
"The hopelessness you feel in Guantanamo can hardly be described. You are asked the same questions hundreds of times," Rawi said. "Allegations are made against you that are laughably untrue, but you have no chance to prove them wrong."
The two were arrested in 2002 in Gambia while trying to return to Britain with electronic equipment authorities described as suspicious. The men's lawyers say it was a battery charger.
April 2, 2007
By David Stringer, Associated Press
LONDON - A British resident released from Guantanamo Bay after nearly five years in captivity said yesterday in his first comments since his release that his detention at the U.S. prison camp was "profoundly difficult" to endure.
Bisher al-Rawi, 37, an Iraqi national, had been held at the U.S. base in Cuba since it opened in 2002, but was reunited with his family in south London over the weekend.
British officials have long refused to represent resident foreigners held at Guantanamo, but took up Rawi's case after it was disclosed that he had provided assistance to MI5, Britain's domestic spy agency.
Rawi's U.S. lawyer, George Brent Mickum IV, said last year that Rawi had agreed during one of at least six interviews with British agents at Guantanamo to work for the British security service in exchange for his release. Nothing came of the offer, Mickum said.
Mickum declined to comment on the case yesterday, except to say that Rawi "is delighted to be back home with his family."
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said Thursday that Rawi's release had been agreed to, but officials and lawyers have not disclosed precisely when the detainee was freed and flown to Britain.
"After over four years in Guantanamo Bay, my nightmare is finally at an end," Rawi said in a statement. "I also feel great sorrow for the other nine British residents who remain prisoners in Guantanamo Bay."
Britain's Foreign Office said only five foreign nationals resident in Britain are held at the prison camp, in Cuba.
Rawi and another British resident, Jamil el-Banna, were alleged to have been associated with al-Qaeda through their connection with the London-based radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada. Rawi had lived in Britain since 1985, and Banna was granted refugee status in Britain in 2000.
"The hopelessness you feel in Guantanamo can hardly be described. You are asked the same questions hundreds of times," Rawi said. "Allegations are made against you that are laughably untrue, but you have no chance to prove them wrong."
The two were arrested in 2002 in Gambia while trying to return to Britain with electronic equipment authorities described as suspicious. The men's lawyers say it was a battery charger.