In a passionate plea to the American people, the family of a Saudi detainee in Guantanamo Bay, allegedly in Afghanistan on a charitable mission when the US invaded, sought assurances about his health and the amputations of both legs and pleaded for him to be returned home. Abdullah al Anzi, aged 26, was transferred to Cuba in 2002 after being arrested in Afghanistan.
| Oh, my heart strings! [Burp!] Or maybe it's the chili... |
 In a letter distributed to lawyers and members of the press, the family pleaded with the authorities to release information on âthe state of our beloved sonâ and questioned why he has been detained for so long. Seen by Asharq al Awsat, the letter said, âThe father has lost his son and protector; he contemplates his sonâs picture and kisses it every day. The mother has lost her spirit and her life is changed forever. She has seen one doctor after another and become a subject for experimental drugs. All those close to her know the cure: the return of Abdullahâ, but who can save her? Every time the mother moves around her house, she starts crying when she sees her sonâs drawings and sports clothes. She is attached to his picture and gazes at it, as if waiting for him to talk back: Where is your humanity? Let all women read these words.â
| Mybe they should have kept poor Sonny home? Found him a job? |
Abdullahâs 27 siblings urged all those involved to act to free their brother.
| Wait a minute! 27 siblings? How long did it take them to realize one was missing? |
âWhy is he [in Guantanamo Bay ]? Where [were] his legs amputated? Is charitable work wrong? If so, we apologize on his behalf. His younger brothers and sisters keep asking, âWho will take us to school?ââ
| Gotta have a pretty big car to take 27 siblings to school... |
âEveryone in our village can testify that Abdullah is a human and responsible person.
| They may have meant that he was "humane," rather than "human." Then again, they could just be reassuring themselves. |
"He is a well-behaved and sensitive young man. Everyone awaits his return and the dream remains aliveâ, the letter said.
| "We just can't wait until he's home again, fulminating down at the mosque!" |
 Meanwhile, the Center for Constitutional Rights has revealed Abdullahâs lawyer complained to the US government that his client was not receiving the appropriate medical care after he visited Camp Delta in Cuba in August 2005. The New York City based Center confirmed that Abdullah had lost both legs and was currently relying on two artificial limbs âthat did not fit properly and were provided by the US militaryâ, causing him constant pain and septicemia caused by the metal rings joining the artificial limbs to his body.
| "They just walked in one day, said 'Here ya go, Stumpy,' and nailed 'em on!" |
Abdullah was injured in Afghanistan were he was working for charity around the time the US assault on Afghanistan began, in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
| "He was delivering arms and ammunition to poor widow ladies and orphans!" |
In hospital being treated for his wounds, Abdullah was kidnapped by mercenaries and sold to the US military.
| "They just grabbed him, for no reason at all!" |
| "Lady, we're infidels. It's what we do." |
Recalling his ordeal, Abdullah said, âI was pounced upon like a hawk would capture [a mouse], and sold like a fat sheep.â Between the start of the bombings and his arrival in Guantanamo, both of Mr. Al Anazi's legs were amputated below the knee
| "Yeah! And there wudn't nothin' wrong with 'em!" |
Anant Raut, a lawyer at Weil & Gotshar, who represents Abdullah, commenting on his clientâs condition, said, â"There was a time when we had the moral high ground in the war on terror. Now the government is withholding medical treatment from a double amputee in the name of intelligence gathering. The only reliable thing about information intelligence gained from torture is that it is 100 percent unreliable."
| Gotta get this sympathy meter checked out... |
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