This article is from the source 'rtcom' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.rt.com/news/534524-unheard-voices-mujahideen-alqaeda-gitmo/
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| ‘US misled me into joining Mujahideen, then tortured me for Al-Qaeda past’: Gitmo survivor says US ‘acted like fascists’ post-9/11 | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A former Islamist fighter who went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and later got caught up in the US War on Terror – spending 14 years in the Guantanamo prison as a result – spoke to RT as part of the Unheard Voices project. | A former Islamist fighter who went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and later got caught up in the US War on Terror – spending 14 years in the Guantanamo prison as a result – spoke to RT as part of the Unheard Voices project. |
| In the early 1990s, Mohamedou Ould Slahi had a romantic notion of pursuing a noble cause, wanting to risk his life for something greater than himself. He traveled from Germany to Afghanistan with plans to join the Mujahideen. At the time, the Afghan Islamists were hailed as heroic freedom fighters, a ‘David’ who had defeated the ‘Goliath’ of the mighty Soviet Union and was on its way to topple the communist government in Kabul. | In the early 1990s, Mohamedou Ould Slahi had a romantic notion of pursuing a noble cause, wanting to risk his life for something greater than himself. He traveled from Germany to Afghanistan with plans to join the Mujahideen. At the time, the Afghan Islamists were hailed as heroic freedom fighters, a ‘David’ who had defeated the ‘Goliath’ of the mighty Soviet Union and was on its way to topple the communist government in Kabul. |
| “Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Germany, where I lived, supported Afghanistan. We used to watch movies. We used to watch news, documentaries about Afghanistan. And I decided to join the Mujahideen,” the former fighter recalled as he spoke to RT in Mauritania. | “Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Germany, where I lived, supported Afghanistan. We used to watch movies. We used to watch news, documentaries about Afghanistan. And I decided to join the Mujahideen,” the former fighter recalled as he spoke to RT in Mauritania. |
| In reality, Afghanistan was engulfed in civil war, with various factions vying for resources and political power. The training camp where Slahi wound up was run by Al-Qaeda, founded just a few years prior by Osama Bin Laden, a son of a wealthy Saudi family who himself had joined and helped finance the US-backed – and armed – Mujahideen. Slahi said he had no idea he was pledging allegiance to an international terrorist organization. | In reality, Afghanistan was engulfed in civil war, with various factions vying for resources and political power. The training camp where Slahi wound up was run by Al-Qaeda, founded just a few years prior by Osama Bin Laden, a son of a wealthy Saudi family who himself had joined and helped finance the US-backed – and armed – Mujahideen. Slahi said he had no idea he was pledging allegiance to an international terrorist organization. |
| “I was very young and I was very misinformed. This was a very big propaganda machine led by the US and its Western allies and Arab allies. They gave me a wrong picture,” he recalled. | “I was very young and I was very misinformed. This was a very big propaganda machine led by the US and its Western allies and Arab allies. They gave me a wrong picture,” he recalled. |
| Slahi's Afghan travels and a phone call from a cousin, an associate of Bin Laden, landed him firmly in the crosshairs of Western intelligence. He was investigated for possible terrorism connections when he lived in Canada, before returning home to Mauritania and, after 9/11, he was marked as a person of interest, whose rights were irrelevant to Washington's drive for vengeance. | Slahi's Afghan travels and a phone call from a cousin, an associate of Bin Laden, landed him firmly in the crosshairs of Western intelligence. He was investigated for possible terrorism connections when he lived in Canada, before returning home to Mauritania and, after 9/11, he was marked as a person of interest, whose rights were irrelevant to Washington's drive for vengeance. |
| READ MORE: ‘Trauma on top of trauma’: UK veteran says war in Afghanistan was ‘pointless exercise’ that brought him nothing but fear (VIDEO) | READ MORE: ‘Trauma on top of trauma’: UK veteran says war in Afghanistan was ‘pointless exercise’ that brought him nothing but fear (VIDEO) |
| Eventually, Mauritanian authorities gave up Slahi to the US despite his cooperation. The Americans flew him between several locations under the CIA's ‘extraordinary rendition’ program – which saw terror suspects shipped off to foreign states for brutal interrogations – had him tortured and finally locked him up at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. | Eventually, Mauritanian authorities gave up Slahi to the US despite his cooperation. The Americans flew him between several locations under the CIA's ‘extraordinary rendition’ program – which saw terror suspects shipped off to foreign states for brutal interrogations – had him tortured and finally locked him up at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. |
| “I did confess to crimes I didn't do, because of torture,” he said. | “I did confess to crimes I didn't do, because of torture,” he said. |
| Slahi spent 14 years in jail without a trial before finally being released in 2016. His memoir, ‘Guantanamo Diary’ became an international bestseller a year earlier, when the US agreed to declassify it and allow its publication. A dramatization of this book was released earlier this year. | Slahi spent 14 years in jail without a trial before finally being released in 2016. His memoir, ‘Guantanamo Diary’ became an international bestseller a year earlier, when the US agreed to declassify it and allow its publication. A dramatization of this book was released earlier this year. |
| He said that while he used to believe the US is a country that respects the ‘rule of law,’ his experience in American custody was a rude awakening, noting that this had caused him further suffering. | He said that while he used to believe the US is a country that respects the ‘rule of law,’ his experience in American custody was a rude awakening, noting that this had caused him further suffering. |
| RT interviewed Slahi in Mauritania, where he returned after regaining his freedom. He says he cannot travel internationally, because, as he believes, the US has pressured the African country to deny him a passport. | RT interviewed Slahi in Mauritania, where he returned after regaining his freedom. He says he cannot travel internationally, because, as he believes, the US has pressured the African country to deny him a passport. |
| Slahi retold his story as part of a mini-documentary series ‘Unheard Voices,’ produced by RT in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the many people victimized as a direct consequence of the War on Terror that followed. | Slahi retold his story as part of a mini-documentary series ‘Unheard Voices,’ produced by RT in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the many people victimized as a direct consequence of the War on Terror that followed. |
| Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! | Think your friends would be interested? Share this story! |
| Dear readers and commenters, | Dear readers and commenters, |
| We have implemented a new engine for our comment section. We hope the transition goes smoothly for all of you. Unfortunately, the comments made before the change have been lost due to a technical problem. We are working on restoring them, and hoping to see you fill up the comment section with new ones. You should still be able to log in to comment using your social-media profiles, but if you signed up under an RT profile before, you are invited to create a new profile with the new commenting system. | We have implemented a new engine for our comment section. We hope the transition goes smoothly for all of you. Unfortunately, the comments made before the change have been lost due to a technical problem. We are working on restoring them, and hoping to see you fill up the comment section with new ones. You should still be able to log in to comment using your social-media profiles, but if you signed up under an RT profile before, you are invited to create a new profile with the new commenting system. |
| Sorry for the inconvenience, and looking forward to your future comments, | Sorry for the inconvenience, and looking forward to your future comments, |
| RT Team. | RT Team. |