http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/07/news/gitmo.php <http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/07/news/gitmo.php>
Yemeni detainee at Guantánamo would fight terrorism for U.S. Yemeni makes pledge in bid for freedom The Associated Press Published: December 7, 2006 GUANTÁNAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba: A Yemeni detainee has told a U.S. military review panel that if released from Guantánamo Bay, he would volunteer to help the United States fight terrorism overseas. The 36-year-old prisoner, who acknowledged having met with Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, pleaded his case for freedom Wednesday by saying he had already told interrogators at the U.S. military prison in Cuba everything he knew about Al Qaeda. "I can be a helper to you, more than here at the camp," said the detainee, who spoke in English. "I'd like to be with you even after leaving here." The detainee appealed to a panel of three military officers evaluating whether he should be released. The military required journalists not to publish his name as a condition of witnessing the hearing. Asked by one of the officers whether serving the United States would put him in danger, the detainee told the Administrative Review Board that he was willing to take the risk "to prove to everyone I am not against your country." He said he was prepared to go anywhere the United States assigned him, but did not say how he wanted to help. The officers held a closed session later Wednesday to consider classified evidence that was not made available to the detainee, who prepared for the hearing with help from a military officer but was not allowed a lawyer. The Pentagon, which created the review boards at Guantánamo after human rights groups complained about the indefinite nature of the detentions, considers the panels' recommendations when deciding whether prisoners still pose a threat to the United States. Philip Waddingham, a navy captain and the head of the Office for the Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants at Guantánamo, said panels rarely heard offers to assist the United States. "They'll certainly take it into consideration. That's their job," he said. After training to become an orthopedic surgeon in Pakistan from 1988 to 2000, the detainee said, he went to Afghanistan to offer medical care to the poor. He said he found work with the Afghan charity Al Wafa, but resigned in October 2001 after learning that the U.S. government said it was helping to finance Al Qaeda. He said he met Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains after fleeing the eastern city of Jalalabad, where he heard that members of the Northern Alliance were hunting Arabs. He said he had asked to meet the local boss to request help getting across the border to Pakistan, not realizing it was the Al Qaeda leader. He said he provided medical care to bin Laden's supporters under duress. 'I was stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time, but if I didn't help them they would kill me," he said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
