"Alqaeda" detainees in Guantanamo enjoying good health, phone calls home.
Guantanamo detainee phones home
By Badar Al-Motawae, Arab News Staff
JEDDAH, 21 December 2002 — A Saudi detained at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, told his family in a 45-minute telephone call this week that he had spent his days learning the Holy Qur’an by heart. It was the first phone call from Guantanamo to a Saudi family.
The father of the detainee, who requested anonymity, said his 25-year-old son had called them late Wednesday at their home in Makkah.” He said he was well and had learned the Qur’an by heart,” the father said.
“My son also told us that the detainees had limited freedom of movement and could attend to their devotions.”
He did not, however, supply any new information about conditions in the jail where he is detained along with about 600 other Al-Qaeda suspects without any proven criminal charges against them. He said that other Saudi prisoners were anxiously waiting for their turn to call home. “He also said all his fellow prisoners enjoyed good health. On behalf of the other prisoners, he urged their relatives to write more letters as these communications “give us the feeling that we are still amidst you.” He also wanted them to pray more for the prisoners’ release, the father said. “Though his words were often interrupted with sobs, I got the impression that his condition was satisfactory,” the father added.
Al-Watan newspaper said that the name of the caller was Abdul Aziz. His uncle who spoke on behalf of the family told the newspaper said his nephew did not answer most of the questions put to him as if he were afraid of some guards standing beside him and listening.
In a related matter, Mohammed Al-Fouzan received a letter from his son Fahd Al-Fouzan, another Saudi prisoner in Guantanamo, on Tuesday after communications were broken off three months ago.
Elham Hassan, a Bahraini lawyer and member of the international committee for the defense of Guantanamo prisoners, considered Wednesday’s telephone call a positive indication toward the acceptance of the demands of the prisoners’ relatives and governments. Elham urged the US government to release the prisoners or turn them over to their respective governments, as “the US does not possess any evidence to justify their detention.”
She added that a meeting of the committee would be held in Doha next week to discuss the new developments. |
