Latest News Sudan minister defends weak al-Hajj
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May 4, 2008 - 6:25:56 PM
Sudan minister defends weak al-Hajj
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Al-Hajj was carried off his flight from Guantanamo by US troops
ASudanese minister has refuted a
US defence department official's claim that Sami al-Hajj, a released detainee of
GuantanamoBay, was affecting weakness on his return from the camp to Sudan.
The
US official had told ABC news that al-Hajj was "a manipulator and a propagandist".
Dr Kamal Obeid, the Sudanese state minister for media affairs, said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday that he was "surprised" to hear the remarks.
'Exhausted'
He said that on his arrival in
Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, from
GuantanamoBay early on Friday morning, "al-Hajj appeared exhausted, with very slow heart beats and low blood pressure.
"When I grasped his hands, they were very cold, apparently affected by the cooling system in the aircraft.
"But when I greeted his other two colleagues, their bodies were much warmer."
An official from the
US state department said that he had viewed al-Hajj's show of weakness as an attempt to influence pubic opinion.
Al-Hajj is an Al Jazeera cameraman who was travelling to
Afghanistan to work for the television network in
Pakistan in 2001 when he was taken by Pakistan forces and handed over to the US.
He was held for more than six years and never charged. He had been on hunger strike for almost 16 months in protest at his treatment.
'Propaganda'
The
US official said that al-Hajj's propaganda style was impressive and criticised him for continually complaining about the maltreatment of detainees in
GuantanamoBay.
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Images of al-Hajj before and after his
detention in Guantanamo
The official added that al-Hajj looked healthy and in good condition when he boarded the aircraft departing
from GuantanamoBay, which is on
US military territory in
Cuba.
Asked whether al-Hajj was simulating weakness, Dr Obeid said: "It was a national tradition in the
Sudan that showing weakness to others, particularly women, relatives and others, is seen as shame, which is contrary to the standards of manhood.
"Only after he was drip-fed, that he was able to regain strength.
"After more than 400 days of hunger strike, al-Hajj needs more time to cope with normal feeding, as part of his digestive mechanisms have become dormant."
'Nonsense'
Asked on Al Jazeera's Inside Story programme whether al-Hajj could have been faking illness, Wadah Khanfar, Al Jazeera's director general, said that it was "nonsense".
