Mullah
19-10-03, 12:36
Guantanamo guards embrace Islam
Could contact with prisoners be having an effect?
A number of the US troops guarding the 660 suspected al-Qaida and Taliban
detainees in Guantanamo Bay have converted to Islam, according to an
Algerian mediator.
Hasan Aribi, who chairs his country's committee on the Guantanamo question,
has negotiated the release of 18 detainees from the heavily-guarded
detention camp at the eastern tip of Cuba.
He claimed that the freed detainees told him that some of their American
guards had converted to Islam as a result of daily interaction with Muslim
prisoners for the past two years.
The US military refused to comment when contacted by Aljazeera.net on
Tuesday.
Release of prisoner
Aribi made his claims at a seminar in Egypt recently which was covered by
Islam Online.
Speaking to the Cairo seminar, he said his negotiations, held in Washington
before the Iraq war, resulted in the release of eight Algerians and ten
other detainees.
"They told me that the American guards were very sympathetic with them to
the extent of buying the detainees' needs (with) their pocket money," Aribi
said.
Aribi appealed to other Arab governments to act immediately for the release
of their citizens, held without charges in Guantanamo.
He said 90% of those held had "no relation whatsoever with al-Qaida or
Taliban. They were working with humanitarian relief agencies and were only
arrested as part of an American campaign against possible suspects."
The detainees are being held outside US legal jurisdiction
A New York representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) said he had also heard reports of US guards converting to Islam in
Guantanamo.
Arrests
No comment was immediately available from the camp. US military officials
have imposed stricter reporting limits since the arrests of a Muslim army
chaplain and two interpreters.
The arrests involved civilian interpreter Ahmad Mihalba, a naturalised US
citizen from Egypt, allegedly found with classified documents from
Guantanamo and Air Force Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, an interpreter accused of
espionage for allegedly sending classified information about the camp to an
unspecified "enemy."
Army Capt James Yee, a Muslim chaplain, has been charged with disobeying
orders. He is accused of leaving the base with a layout of the prison block.
All three say they are innocent.
Red Cross speaks out
The International Committee of the Red Cross has complained on Friday that
the camp denies prisoners basic rights and is leading to mental health
problems among them.
"We've witnessed growing anxiety and a rather serious deterioration in the
psychological health of the detainees, linked very much, we believe, to
their ongoing uncertainty," said Amanda Williamson of the ICRC's office in
Washington.
The public protest is highly unusual for the ICRC, which traditionally
raises concerns about such conditions privately.
Could contact with prisoners be having an effect?
A number of the US troops guarding the 660 suspected al-Qaida and Taliban
detainees in Guantanamo Bay have converted to Islam, according to an
Algerian mediator.
Hasan Aribi, who chairs his country's committee on the Guantanamo question,
has negotiated the release of 18 detainees from the heavily-guarded
detention camp at the eastern tip of Cuba.
He claimed that the freed detainees told him that some of their American
guards had converted to Islam as a result of daily interaction with Muslim
prisoners for the past two years.
The US military refused to comment when contacted by Aljazeera.net on
Tuesday.
Release of prisoner
Aribi made his claims at a seminar in Egypt recently which was covered by
Islam Online.
Speaking to the Cairo seminar, he said his negotiations, held in Washington
before the Iraq war, resulted in the release of eight Algerians and ten
other detainees.
"They told me that the American guards were very sympathetic with them to
the extent of buying the detainees' needs (with) their pocket money," Aribi
said.
Aribi appealed to other Arab governments to act immediately for the release
of their citizens, held without charges in Guantanamo.
He said 90% of those held had "no relation whatsoever with al-Qaida or
Taliban. They were working with humanitarian relief agencies and were only
arrested as part of an American campaign against possible suspects."
The detainees are being held outside US legal jurisdiction
A New York representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) said he had also heard reports of US guards converting to Islam in
Guantanamo.
Arrests
No comment was immediately available from the camp. US military officials
have imposed stricter reporting limits since the arrests of a Muslim army
chaplain and two interpreters.
The arrests involved civilian interpreter Ahmad Mihalba, a naturalised US
citizen from Egypt, allegedly found with classified documents from
Guantanamo and Air Force Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, an interpreter accused of
espionage for allegedly sending classified information about the camp to an
unspecified "enemy."
Army Capt James Yee, a Muslim chaplain, has been charged with disobeying
orders. He is accused of leaving the base with a layout of the prison block.
All three say they are innocent.
Red Cross speaks out
The International Committee of the Red Cross has complained on Friday that
the camp denies prisoners basic rights and is leading to mental health
problems among them.
"We've witnessed growing anxiety and a rather serious deterioration in the
psychological health of the detainees, linked very much, we believe, to
their ongoing uncertainty," said Amanda Williamson of the ICRC's office in
Washington.
The public protest is highly unusual for the ICRC, which traditionally
raises concerns about such conditions privately.