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Cablegate: Jordanian Released From Gitmo Interviewed By

Published: Wed 14 Jul 2004 02:25 AM
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS AMMAN 005893
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN RELEASED FROM GITMO INTERVIEWED BY
ISLAMIC WEEKLY AL-SABIL, CITES ABUSE
REF: FBIS GNP20040707000102
1. Jordan Islamist weekly Al-Sabil published July 6 a
lengthy interview with, they report, the first Jordanian
released from the Guantanamo detention camp in Cuba. The
former prisoner described his alleged experiences at
detention camps in Afghanistan and Cuba from January 2002
until April 2004 as being worse than the reported abuse at
Abu Ghreib. The full text of the article can be found in
FBIS reftel. We report this in the interest of any ongoing
investigation.
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HANDED OVER IN TEHRAN TO US FORCES
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2. Wisam Abd-al-Rahman, known as Abu-Ubaydah, described to
Al-Sabil his alleged experiences as a prisoner in detention
camps in Afghanistan and Guantanamo. He said Iranian police
arrested him in Zahedan on his return from a trip to
Pakistan. He said that after his interrogation by Iranian
police he was told that he would be released. However, he
was instead taken to the airport in Tehran and allegedly
handed over to a U.S. plane with Afghan men on board.
--------------------------------------------- ---
DETENTION IN AFGHANISTAN, CUBA; RETURN TO JORDAN
--------------------------------------------- ---
3. Abd-al-Rahman described his reported period of detention
in Afghanistan from January 2002 until April 2003 as moving
from "one American prison to another", staying in cold, dark,
and crowded rooms. He said he stayed, without charges or
interrogation, with nine other persons in a 25 square foot
room without sunlight and fed only bread and rice for a
period of about 77 days. He said that sanitary and hygiene
conditions were terrible, and that he did not receive medical
care nor see the sun during the period of detention in
Afghanistan. He also reported sleep deprivation, undressing
in front of female soldiers, desecration of the Koran by a
dog, beatings, and threats of harm from barking dogs while
blindfolded.
4. Abd-al-Rahman said that after being told of his innocence
by an interrogator, he was flown to the Guantanamo detention
camp in Cuba at the end of April 2003. More alleged abuse,
poor conditions, and scarce food followed. Upon his release
in 2004, he was flown by a U.S. military plane into Amman and
held by Jordanian security officials for 56 days, followed by
release under house arrest.
-----------------------------------
RED CROSS FAILED TO DELIVER LETTERS
-----------------------------------
5. According to Abd-al-Rahman, the International Red Cross
(ICRC) did not deliver any of the letters that he wrote to
his family while detained. He said that an ICRC rep came to
his house after his release, handed him the letters, and
apologized for not delivering them to his family.
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COMMENT
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6. Given the revelations of abuses of prisoners in Abu
Ghreib prison, Abd-al-Rahman's allegations of abuse in U.S.
custody in Afghanistan and Guantanamo will be widely believed
here.
7. Baghdad minimize considered.
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/
or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET
home page.
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