Prisoner 345: Campaign to free Sami Haj held in Guantanamo | Campaign to free Sami Haj an Al Jazeera cameraman held in Guantanamo
Al Jazeera English - News - Sami Al-Hajj Hits Out At Us Captors
SudanTribune article : Washington releases Sudanese journalist from Guantanamo
Washington releases Sudanese journalist from Guantanamo
Friday 2 May 2008 01:30.
May 1, 2008 (KHARTOUM) - Al Jazeera satellite TV cameraman, Sami al-Haj has been released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay.
A US military plane has arrived in the Sudanese capital on Friday at 02:00am (local time) transporting Sami and two other detainees.
The Journalist following his arrival to Khartoum airport was transported discreetly to Al-Amal hospital in the capital for medical check-up.
Justice Minister, Abdel-Basit Sabdrat and the presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail told Al-Jazeera TV that the Sudanese government has no charges against Sami al-Haj and his is free to move inside or outside the country.
U.S. Embassy in Khartoum issued a statement indicating that the release of the Sudanese detainees took place in the context of the cooperation between US embassy and the Sudanese foreign ministry and the National Intelligence and Security Service.
The Sudanese foreign ministry earlier confirmed the release of the Sudanese journalist who was detained without charges in Guantanamo since June 2002.
Sami al-Hajj hits out at US captors
Al Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Hajj has hit out at the US treatment of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison where he was held for nearly six and a half years.
Saying that "rats are treated with more humanity", al-Hajj said inmates' "human dignity was violated".
Al-Hajj, who arrived in Sudan early on Friday, was carried off the US air force jet on a stretcher and immediately taken to hospital.
Later, he had an emotional reunion with his wife and son.
His brother, Asim al-Hajj, said he did not recognize the cameraman because he looked like a man in his 80s.
Still, al-Hajj said: "I was lucky because God allowed that I be released."
But his attention soon turned to the 275 inmates he left behind in the US military prison.
'Dignity violated'
"I'm very happy to be in Sudan, but I'm very sad because of the situation of our brothers who remain in Guantanamo. Conditions in Guantanamo are very, very bad and they get worse by the day," he said from his hospital bed.
"Our human condition, our human dignity was violated, and the American administration went beyond all human values, all moral values, all religious values.
"In Guantanamo ... rats are treated with more humanity. But we have people from more than 50 countries that are completely deprived of all rights and privileges.
"And they will not give them the rights that they give animals," he said.
Al-Hajj complained that "for more than seven years, [inmates] did not get a chance to be brought before a civil court to defend their just case".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ya Allah! Sami is finally out!
This brings an end to his 465 day hunger strike,
and his 2,139 days in gitmo...
Now its time for the rest of our brothers....