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Afghan Guantanamo prisoner alleges Quran desecration
ISLAMABAD - An Afghan who spent three years at Guantanamo Bay prison said on Tuesday that interrogators at the center frequently desecrated the Quran, which prompted a hunger strike and a US apology.
| And no doubt the liberal left, Newsweek and Andy Sullivan will believe this guy. Yeppers. |
Abdul Rahim, 40, said during an interview on AVT Khyber television, a Pashtu-language private channel, that abuse of the holy book was routine. "Abuse of the Quran was done routinely particularly in the early days of detention," Rahim said. His claims could not be independently verified.
"They would throw the holy book on the ground, trample upon it and tell the prisoner under interrogation no one could stop them from doing that. "The news of sacrilege sent shockwaves among the prisoners and all of us went on a hunger strike. We declined to participate in the interrogation and also did not eat anything for many many days," he said.
| How exactly does one 'decline to participate in an interrogation'? |
Rahim, according to the interviewer, said that the hunger strike ended only after top American officials apologised for the desecration. "All of us ended the hunger strike except for a Palestinian. It was due to our efforts and sacrifices that we restored the honour of the Quran," he said.
"Which top American officials?"
"Top American officials, you infidel!" |
Rahim said he had arrived back in Pakistan after he was freed from Camp X-Ray last month. He was captured in Peshawar by Pakistani intelligence in 2001 and handed over to US custody.
| Got wrung dry twice, did he? |
Rahim also said prisoners were kept in harsh conditions and in cages. "The cages were made of steel and also the beds on which we used to sleep. At times we created lots of noise by thumping the steel cages that would disturb the Americans."
| "And then they would turn a fire hose on us, the infidel dogs!" |
Rahim said often when Americans walked though the passage between the cages prisoners would spit on them. One prisoner threw a glass of urine on them also, he said.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-05-18 |
