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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Guantanamo ex-Inmates Demand Housing, Payment from U.S. |
| 2015-04-27 |
| [AnNahar] Four former Guantanamo inmates living free in Uruguay since December are demanding financial compensation and housing from the U.S. government for their nearly 13 years in captivity. Syrian citizens Ali Husein Shaaban (33), Abd al-Hadi Faraj (39 or 40), Ahmed Adnan Ahjam (37) and Abdul Bin Mohammed Bin Abess Ourgy of Tunisia (49) have been protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo since late Friday. They stressed that they hold the United States, not host country Uruguay, responsible for their current predicament, accusing Washington of neglecting them after more than a decade spent at the U.S. military prison. "The reason we decided to protest in front of the U.S. embassy is that we wanted from them and from all the world to hear our voices," the group wrote in an English statement published online at https://exguantanamorefugeesinuruguay.wordpress.com. "It's something we didn't want nor called for but unfortunately we were pushed to it. We tried every possible and official way, we talked to many representatives of the government but our conditions didn't change." In thanking President Jose Mujica and the Uruguayan people for their hospitality, the men said the United States "can't just throw the mistakes on others; they should help us with houses and financial support." The men have spent two nights sleeping in the garden outside the U.S. Embassy, and were provided food and blankets by locals. The former prisoners said they want to stay in Uruguay and are willing to work there, but warn that the process of adaptation takes time. The other two former prisoners resettled in Uruguay are Syrian national Jihad Diyab (43) and Mohammed Tahamatan (35), a Paleostinian. They did not join the protest. - 'Appropriate channels' - On Friday, the U.S. embassy issued a statement indicating that any request must be made through the "appropriate channels" and filed during the mission's operating hours. Uruguay's then president Jose Mujica announced last year that the country would take in the inmates on "humanitarian grounds," in a bid to help his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... fulfill his long-delayed promise to close the prison set up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The men were among the first detainees sent to Guantanamo in 2002. Detained as part of the U.S. "war on terror" for alleged links to al-Qaeda, they were never charged or tried. They had been cleared for release, but the U.S. ruled they could not be sent to their home countries for security reasons. Uruguay is the first South American country to receive former Guantanamo inmates. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #11 A nice opportunity for Sharpton, Jackson, etal. to expand their market! |
| Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 2015-04-27 19:02 |
| #10 Treat them like American vets. They'll get nothing until the last one is at death's door. |
| Posted by: gorb 2015-04-27 14:53 |
| #9 I demand you put a bullet in their head for killing all of those US Troops. |
| Posted by: newc 2015-04-27 13:01 |
| #8 They did not pay while staying at gitmo; invite them back for another free stay. |
| Posted by: airandee 2015-04-27 12:58 |
| #7 I'm warning you, one of these days I will get a job! |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-04-27 11:52 |
| #6 i can think of a nice little studio apartment they should be occupying.... It really small and about 6' underground. And as a bonus they don't have to worry about little things like food, exercise, air.... People are dying to get into them! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2015-04-27 10:30 |
| #5 What you subsidize, you get more of. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-04-27 09:31 |
| #4 Since the Geneva Conventions say we could have tried them as illegal combatants, and the then executed th3m, they should thank us for being alive. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2015-04-27 09:00 |
| #3 ..you have to get in line over there -> behind the illegals. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-04-27 08:29 |
| #2 Offer them a free 12 ga pumpkin ball to the back of the head. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2015-04-27 06:38 |
| #1 muslims don't want to work just pray hence why they love coming to UK for free housing etc |
| Posted by: paul 2015-04-27 04:00 |