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Detainee who died in apparent suicide was Saudi military veteran
The detainee who died at Guantanamo Bay in an apparent suicide was identified as a Saudi military veteran and self-described holy warrior who denied he ever intended to kill Americans.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 June 2, 2007
San Juan, Puerto Rico: The detainee who died at Guantanamo Bay in an apparent suicide was identified as a Saudi military veteran and self-described holy warrior who denied he ever intended to kill Americans.
US military records show the detainee admitted having a connection to Al Qaida but insisted he was little more than a Taliban foot soldier when the United States invaded Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The military and the Saudi government on Thursday identified the detainee as Abdul Rahman Maadha Al Amry. US records show he was 34 and had been held without charges at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in southeastern Cuba since February 2002.
Al Amry had no attorney of record, although the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights has filed a blanket legal challenge on behalf of all Guantanamo detainees. Lawyers say many detainees have little faith in the American legal system but others simply do not understand it.
The US military said Al Amry was not breathing when he was found on Wednesday by guards in Camp 5, a high-security section of Guantanamo generally reserved for detainees who are considered to have intelligence value or who do not follow prison rules.
Al Amry was said to have been on a hunger strike in March. Military records suggest he had also refused food in the past, with his weight dropping below 41 kg at one point in 2005. He weighed 68 kg when he entered Guantanamo.
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