Guantánamo Detainee Refuses To Leave

Photo: Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir, one of three prisoners who were to be released from Guantánamo this week, was frightened to leave the prison and go to a country where he had no family, his lawyer, John Chandler, said. Credit Department of Defense

New York Times: Guantánamo Detainee Refuses Release Offer

WASHINGTON — Three Guantánamo detainees were slated to leave the American prison in Cuba this week after about 14 years in captivity. But early Wednesday morning, only two were willing to board the plane.

The third – Mohammed Ali Abdullah Bwazir of Yemen – balked at the last minute, even though he has a history of hunger striking to protest his indefinite detention without trial. In recent days, Mr. Bwazir was “frightened” to leave the prison and go to a country where he has no family, his lawyer, John Chandler, said. The country has not been identified.

Mr. Chandler also said his client – who was born around 1980 and brought to Guantánamo in 2002 – was depressed. He compared his client to a character in the prison movie “The Shawshank Redemption” who has spent so much of his life behind bars that he cannot handle life on the outside after finally being paroled.

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WNU Editor: Two other detainees did accept the offer to leave .... 2 Guantanamo Detainees Transferred to Bosnia, Montenegro (VOA)

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