Mehdi_Ghezali

Mehdi Ghezali

Mehdi Muhammed Ghezali (born July 5, 1979), in media previously known as the Cuba-Swede (Kubasvensken), is a Swedish citizen of Algerian descent who was held as an unlawful combatant at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detainment camp on Cuba between January 2002 and July 2004. Prior to his capture Ghezali attended a madrasah and mosque in the United Kingdom before travelling to Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and finally ended up in Pakistan where he was captured. Following his release from detention the Swedish government has not brought any further criminal charges against him for criminal misconduct prior to his capture.

Early life and travel

Mehdi Ghezali was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm, and grew up in Örebro, the son of an Algerian immigrant. He finished secondary studies in 1999 and trained as a welder. He was suspected of theft the same year, but left the country and could not be questioned by the Swedish police. When police officers visited Ghezali's father he stated that Ghezali had left for Algeria in order to complete his military service, however Ghezali had traveled to Portugal, supposedly to pursue a career as a football player. Ghezali was apprehended by the Portuguese police in Algarve, Portugal on July 31, 1999 for a suspected bank robbery and a jewelry theft together with his partner Stavros Christos Toilos. The bank robbery in Albufeira netted 600,000 euros while the jewelry theft in Playe de la Galé netted 5,000 euros. Ghezali and his partner were sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment, but were released early. Ghezali was released from prison on June 12, 2000 after having spent 10 months in a Portuguese prison, and returned to Sweden.

Ghezali then traveled to Medina in Saudi Arabia to study at the university. However, he was not accepted and returned to Sweden in March or April 2001 for a brief period before travelling to London where he studied at the madrasah of the Muslim cleric Omar Bakri. He then travelled to Pakistan in the summer of 2001 in order to study at one of the madrasahs situated there. After failing to gain acceptance into any of the madrasahs he then travelled to Afghanistan, where he according to his own statements stayed with a family in Jalalabad. Ghezali stated that:

"I lived a simple life, playing with the children and seeing how Afghans lived."

According to media reports Ghezali stayed at "Algerian House", supposedly a known hideout for al-Qaeda in Jalalabad. Information gleaned from interrogations with the captured terrorist Ahmed Ressam described "Algerian House" as a part of a training camp known as ”biot al-ansar”, or the house of sympathisers. At the first level sympathisers are given ideological indoctrination and basic weapons training before al-Qaeda leaders determine which sympathisers are to advance to the next level within the organization.

Capture and detention

After the Armed Forces of the United States together with the Afghan Northern Alliance initiated a bombing campaign on the Tora Bora mountains a large number of al-Qaeda sympathisers and others in the affected areas fled southward to Pakistan. Mehdi Ghezali was captured by local warlords in Pakistan in the Tora Bora mountains which are close to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then handed over to the U.S. Armed Forces which transported him to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on Cuba where Ghezali was held at Guantanamo Bay detainment camp.

During his stay at Guantanamo Bay Ghezali was visited by representatives of the Swedish government (February 2002, January and July 2003 and January 2004) and was informed that he had been assigned an attorney in Sweden (Peter Althin) and that his case had been brought up in inter-governmental contacts and had been featured on several occasions in the Swedish media. Ghezali supposedly refused to discuss what he was doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan with the agents of the Swedish government.

On May 15, 2006 the United States Department of Defense released a list of all the individuals who had been held in military custody in their Guantanamo Bay detainment camps. That list gives Ghezali's Guantanamo detainee ID as 166. The DoD lists his place of birth as Stockholm.

Release

After being held as an enemy combatant for 930 days Ghezali was released into the custody of the Swedish government on July 8, 2004 since he was no longer considered a threat to the United States, since he had no information that was of interest to the American Intelligence Service and since he had not committed a crime which could be proven in a military court. Ghezali was transported home by the Swedish Air Force on a Gulfstream IV jet, at the expense of the Swedish government (estimated at 500 000 – 600 000 Swedish kronor).

Initially Swedish prosecutors stated that they would press charges against him for crimes committed prior to Ghezali's departure from Sweden, but they were subsequently dropped. There were also threats made against Ghezali, it was perceived that the Swedish government had given Ghezali too much help.

An article in the Boston Globe, on detainees who had returned to battlefield following their release, mentioned Ghezali. The article said Ghezali was being "monitored by Swedish intelligence agents". Ghezali has also stated in his book that he feels he is being intensely monitored by the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO), both in his home and when he moves around. He claims that the surveillance has caused him to feel depressed.

Statements after release

After his release Ghezali criticized the Swedish government for not helping him sufficiently and denied having been told that he was assigned an attorney or being informed of actions taken on his behalf by the Swedish government, however this was refuted by the Swedish foreign ministry which had documented their meetings with Ghezali. It has been suggested by a psychologist that Ghezali's recollection of events might have been affected by the stress of capture and detention.

Ghezali has also made statements describing his stay at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. He claims to have been subject to torture such as sleep deprivation and made to sit in an interrogation room for thirteen hours in a row. He is planning a class-action lawsuit against the USA. He has together with Gösta Hultén published a book, Fånge på Guantánamo : Mehdi Ghezali berättar (Prisoner on Guantanamo: Mehdi Ghezalis tells) ISBN 91-7343-086-2, in which he chronicles his experiences.

Activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Ghezali has not answered any questions regarding his activities in Afghanistan, possible connections to al-Qaeda and previous criminal activities. At a press conference following his return to Sweden Ghezali said the following about the al-Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden:

Jag känner honom inte som person och därför kan jag inte döma honom. Jag tror inte på det amerikanerna säger om honom. Det är mycket som inte stämmer. (I do not know him as a person and therefore cannot pass judgment over him. I do not believe that which the Americans say about him. There is a lot that does not add up.)

Ghezali's refusal to reveal what he was doing in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been highlighted in Swedish media and was brought up in the context of his stay at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp.

Ghezali was also suspected of having participated in a prison uprising in Pakistan, where 17 people (including seven prison guards) were killed. Ghezali and 47 other prisoners were being transported in a bus when the guards were overpowered and the prisoners fled into the wilderness. The majority of the prisoners were captured again, and were facing execution for their participation in the uprising. After an intervention from the United States the threat of execution was withdrawn and Ghezali was taken into U.S. custody. When questioned about the prison uprising at the press conference following his release Ghezali denied any having any knowledge of or participation in the prison uprising.

Subsequent appearances

On July 4, 2006, Ghezali made his first public appearance since his release at a demonstration held outside the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Ghezali and approximately 60 others called for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility. Ghezali, who declined to answer any questions from reporters, and the other demonstrators also appeared in support of Oussama Kassir, the Swedish citizen being held in the Czech Republic for alleged involvement with al-Qaeda.