Mehdi Ghezali
Encyclopedia
Mehdi Muhammed Ghezali (born 5 July 1979), in media previously known as the Cuba-Swede , is a Swedish
citizen of Algeria
n and Finnish descent who was held as what the United States
termed an unlawful combatant
at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
on Cuba
between January 2002 and July 2004. Prior to his capture Ghezali attended a Muslim
religious school
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.
According to the Stockholm News Pakistan
i security officials "suspected Ghezali to have been involved in a prison uprising where 17 people were killed" -- an assertion Ghezali is reported to have denied.
A man bearing Ghezali's passport was one of twelve foreigners Pakistani security officials reported were captured trying to cross into Afghanistan on 28 August 2009.
According to the Associated Press
Ghezali was "reportedly part of a group of 156 suspected Al-Qaeda
fighters caught while fleeing Afghanistan
's Tora Bora mountains.
, and grew up in Örebro
, the son of an Algerian immigrant and a Finnish woman.
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 31 July 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 euro
s while the jewelry theft in Playe de la Galé netted 5,000 euros. Ghezali and his partner were released from prison on 12 June 2000 after having spent 10 months in a Portuguese prison without being charged, 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.
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 15 May 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.
for 930 days Ghezali was released into the custody of the Swedish government on 8 July 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.
Ghezali was the subject of the English-language documentary Gitmo – The New Rules of War. A film about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by film director Erik Gandini
and Tarik Saleh
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.
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 Ghezali tells) ISBN 91-7343-086-2, in which he chronicles his experiences.
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: 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 having any knowledge of or participation in the prison uprising.
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 at the time being held in the Czech Republic for alleged involvement with al-Qaeda.
According to The Muslim News
: "The Swede eventually found a [U.S.] firm willing to take the case on, but it dropped out shortly before the deadline for bringing a case expired."
in Punjab
, Pakistan
, on suspicions of having ties to al-Qaeda
.
Pakistani security officials reported the 12 men were captured on 28 August 2009.
Among the twelve arrested men, three (including Ghezali) were Swedish, seven were Turkish
, one was Russia
n and another one was an Iran
ian citizen. According to the Pakistani police chief Mohammad Rizwan
, the individuals were arrested when they were trying to sneak into the Punjab province through a checkpoint. According to Rizwan, the police had found CDs, exchange money and literature which all indicated links to terrorist activity. Following their arrest, Ghezali and the two other Swedish citizens were moved to Islamabad
.
Rizwan described Ghezali as "a very dangerous man".
Ghezali's attorney, Anton Strand response to the news that Ghezali was reported to have been captured was: “Yes, I’m surprised by it. One should remember that Ghezali has traveled in that region previously and he has an interest in the region. He is religious and has friends and contacts.”
Swedish newspaper, The Local
quoted Gösta Hultén, the author of a book on Ghezali, who said that Ghezali's father believed he was on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
He reported that Ghezali had called from Saudi Arabia "a few days ago" -- which would be about a week after Pakistani authorities reported the ten men were captured. According to Hultén: “The father is very upset about the allegations that Mehdi has ties to Al-Qaeda. He has already been cleared from those suspicions once.”
On 13 September 2009 Swedish officials confirmed that Pakistan had apprehended three Swedish citizens.
But they declined to comment further on their identity.
On 14 September 2009 Europenews
repeated Swedish language reports that Ghezali and his companion were captured with a laptop, foreign currency, and a new claim -- suicide belts.
On 16 September 2009 two of Ghezali's traveling companions were identified.
He was reported to have been captured with "28-year-old Munir Awad
and 19-year-old Safia Benaouda
, and their two and a half-year-old boy." The most recent allegations state the four Swedes were traveling to Miranshah
in Waziristan
, to meet Zahir Noor, alleged to be a Taliban leader.
Ghezali is reported to have explained that the group were traveling to Lahore
to participate in what Swedish newspaper The Local described as "a harmless meeting with a Muslim revivalist movement, Tablighi Jamaat
."
The Swedes were released on 10 October 2009.
They were placed on a plane to Sweden at 800 GMT.
Rehman Malik
Pakistan’s Minister of the Interior had told Swedish diplomats on 6 October 2009 that he would be receiving a formal report on the Swedes on 7 October 2009, and that he would make a decision about their continued detention at that point.
Swedish paper The Local reported one additional anonymous allegation, that the group "were found in a prohibited area near a nuclear power facility."
Ulrika Sundberg
, the Swedish Ambassador, accompanied the Swedes to their flight.
As of the time of their release Swedish officials had still not received a formal report from Pakistan explaining why the four were detained.
During a 23 November 2009 press conference Ghezali's lawyers offered more details of the trip.
The asserted that Ghezali and his companions had made a last minute decision, during a tour of middle eastern countries, to alter their plans to include Pakistan in their itinerary. They were told by their tour coordinator that the visas for travel within Pakistan could be arranged upon their arrival.
His lawyers expressed concern that Swedish intelligence officials continued to keep Ghezali under surveillance.
They expressed concern that the press speculation that his travel to Pakistan had been inspired by support for jihadism
was unfair and unsupported by any evidence.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
citizen of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n and Finnish descent who was held as what the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
termed an unlawful combatant
Unlawful combatant
An unlawful combatant or unprivileged combatant/belligerent is a civilian who directly engages in armed conflict in violation of the laws of war. An unlawful combatant may be detained or prosecuted under the domestic law of the detaining state for such action.The Geneva Conventions apply in wars...
at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
Guantanamo Bay detainment camp
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq...
on Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
between January 2002 and July 2004. Prior to his capture Ghezali attended a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
religious school
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
and mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
before travelling to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and finally ended up in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
where he was captured. Following his release from detention the Swedish government
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
has not brought any further criminal charges against him for criminal misconduct prior to his capture.
According to the Stockholm News Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i security officials "suspected Ghezali to have been involved in a prison uprising where 17 people were killed" -- an assertion Ghezali is reported to have denied.
A man bearing Ghezali's passport was one of twelve foreigners Pakistani security officials reported were captured trying to cross into Afghanistan on 28 August 2009.
According to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Ghezali was "reportedly part of a group of 156 suspected Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
fighters caught while fleeing Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
's Tora Bora mountains.
Early life and travel
Mehdi Ghezali was born in Botkyrka, StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, and grew up in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....
, the son of an Algerian immigrant and a Finnish woman.
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
Swedish Police Service
The Swedish Police Service is a collection of Government agencies concerned with police matters in Sweden. The Swedish Police Service consists of 28,500 employees of which 39 per cent are women. The staff consists of 20,000 police officers of which 25 per cent are women and 8,500 civilian staff of...
. When police officers visited Ghezali's father he stated that Ghezali had left for Algeria in order to complete his military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
, however Ghezali had traveled to Portugal, supposedly to pursue a career as a football player. Ghezali was apprehended by the Portuguese police
Polícia de Segurança Pública
The Polícia de Segurança Pública - PSP is the Portuguese police force that works in large urban areas. Rural towns and areas are under the protection of the Portuguese Republican National Guard...
in Algarve, Portugal on 31 July 1999 for a suspected bank robbery and a jewelry theft together with his partner Stavros Christos Toilos. The bank robbery in Albufeira
Albufeira
Albufeira is a Portuguese municipality in the Faro District, Algarve region. Its name came from the Arabic: البحيرة . The city has a population of 13,646. The municipality has a population of 35,281 inhabitants and a total area of 140.6 km²...
netted 600,000 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s while the jewelry theft in Playe de la Galé netted 5,000 euros. Ghezali and his partner were released from prison on 12 June 2000 after having spent 10 months in a Portuguese prison without being charged, and returned to Sweden.
Ghezali then traveled to Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
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
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
. 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
Al-Qaeda safe house
American intelligence analysts justify the extrajudicial detention of Guantanamo suspects because they stayed in what they characterized as an Al Qaida safe house....
", supposedly a known hideout for al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
in Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
.
Information gleaned from interrogations with the captured terrorist Ahmed Ressam
Ahmed Ressam
Ahmed Ressam is an Algerian al-Qaeda member who lived in Montreal, Canada.He was convicted of attempting to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve 1999, as part of the foiled 2000 millennium attack plots...
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 mountainsTora Bora
Tora Bora , known locally as Spīn Ghar , is a cave complex situated in the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, in the Pachir Wa Agam District of Nangarhar province, approximately west of the Khyber Pass and north of the border of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan...
a large number of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
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
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
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
Peter Althin
Peter Althin, is a Swedish attorney and politician and a member of the Swedish parliament for the Christian Democrats from 2002 to 2007....
) 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 15 May 2006 the United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
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 combatantEnemy combatant
Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an...
for 930 days Ghezali was released into the custody of the Swedish government on 8 July 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
Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.-History:The Swedish Air Force was created on July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was reorganized and expanded...
on a Gulfstream IV
Gulfstream IV
The Gulfstream IV and derivatives are a family of twin-jet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. The aircraft was designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States from 1985 until 2003.-Design and development:Gulfstream, in...
jet, at the expense of the Swedish government (estimated at 500 000 – 600 000 Swedish kronor
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
).
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.
Ghezali was the subject of the English-language documentary Gitmo – The New Rules of War. A film about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by film director Erik Gandini
Erik Gandini
Erik Gandini is an Italian- Swedish film director, producer and writer.He has made several films including: Amerasians, Sacrificio: Who Betrayed Che Guevara?, Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers, Gitmo and Videocracy.Videocracy has gone on to win awards at Toronto Film Festival, Sheffield...
and Tarik Saleh
Tarik Saleh
Tarik Saleh is Swedish television producer, animator, publisher, journalist and film director of Egyptian descent, who in early 90s was one of Sweden's most prominent graffiti artists...
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)
Swedish Security Service
The Swedish Security Service , former name Rikspolisstyrelsens säkerhetsavdelning , is the security service of Sweden, belonging to the Swedish National Police Board....
, 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 psychologistPsychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
that Ghezali's recollection of events might have been affected by the stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
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
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
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 Ghezali 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-QaedaAl-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
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: 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 having any knowledge of or participation in the prison uprising.
Subsequent appearances
On 4 July 2006, Ghezali made his first public appearance since his release at a demonstrationDemonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
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
Oussama Kassir
Oussama Abdallah Kassir is a Lebanese-born Swedish militant Islamist.- Early life :Kassir was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He came to Sweden in 1984 and was granted Swedish citizenship in 1989. He participated in the Lebanese Civil War during the 1980s and was hurt in battle...
, the Swedish citizen at the time being held in the Czech Republic for alleged involvement with al-Qaeda.
Lawsuit dropped
Ghezali is reported to have dropped his suit against the US government.According to The Muslim News
The Muslim News
The Muslim News describes itself as, "The only independent monthly Muslim newspaper in the UK, is neither backed by any country nor by any organisation or party."...
: "The Swede eventually found a [U.S.] firm willing to take the case on, but it dropped out shortly before the deadline for bringing a case expired."
2009 arrest and release in Pakistan
On 10 September 2009, the Swedish television programme Rapport reported that Ghezali was among a group of twelve foreign citizens who had been arrested one week earlier in the Dera Ghazi Khan DistrictDera Ghazi Khan District
Dera Ghazi Khan is a district in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The district covers an area of 5,306 m² and it is a long narrow strip of country, 198 m...
in Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, on suspicions of having ties to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
.
Pakistani security officials reported the 12 men were captured on 28 August 2009.
Among the twelve arrested men, three (including Ghezali) were Swedish, seven were Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, one was Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and another one was an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian citizen. According to the Pakistani police chief Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan is a field hockey player from Pakistan.-2010:Rizwan took part in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India where the team placed 6th. In November, he was chosen as a member of the team for the Asian Games in China later that month, which went on to win the gold...
, the individuals were arrested when they were trying to sneak into the Punjab province through a checkpoint. According to Rizwan, the police had found CDs, exchange money and literature which all indicated links to terrorist activity. Following their arrest, Ghezali and the two other Swedish citizens were moved to Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
.
Rizwan described Ghezali as "a very dangerous man".
Ghezali's attorney, Anton Strand response to the news that Ghezali was reported to have been captured was: “Yes, I’m surprised by it. One should remember that Ghezali has traveled in that region previously and he has an interest in the region. He is religious and has friends and contacts.”
Swedish newspaper, The Local
The Local
The Local is an English-language online news portal localised for Sweden, Germany, France and Switzerland. Each site, while alike in appearance, has separate editorial teams, each focused on its respective market....
quoted Gösta Hultén, the author of a book on Ghezali, who said that Ghezali's father believed he was on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
He reported that Ghezali had called from Saudi Arabia "a few days ago" -- which would be about a week after Pakistani authorities reported the ten men were captured. According to Hultén: “The father is very upset about the allegations that Mehdi has ties to Al-Qaeda. He has already been cleared from those suspicions once.”
On 13 September 2009 Swedish officials confirmed that Pakistan had apprehended three Swedish citizens.
But they declined to comment further on their identity.
On 14 September 2009 Europenews
Europenews
EuropeNews, an internet news presentation, following the principles of freedom of the press, clarification & human rights against canons of religious intolerance and terrorism. The news ist located at europenews.dk, not to confuse with Euronews....
repeated Swedish language reports that Ghezali and his companion were captured with a laptop, foreign currency, and a new claim -- suicide belts.
On 16 September 2009 two of Ghezali's traveling companions were identified.
He was reported to have been captured with "28-year-old Munir Awad
Munir Awad
Munir Awad is a Lebanon-born citizen of Sweden who has fallen under suspicion of an association with terrorism.Munir Awad, and his fiancee, Safia Benaouda , were captured when Kenya forces, with United States support, invaded Somalia.The pair describe being held in extrajudicial detention...
and 19-year-old Safia Benaouda
Safia Benaouda
Safie Benaouda is a citizen of Sweden who had fallen under suspicion of an association with terrorism.Safie is the daughter of the head of Muslim Council of Sweden Helena Benaouda....
, and their two and a half-year-old boy." The most recent allegations state the four Swedes were traveling to Miranshah
Miranshah
Miranshah is the capital or headquarters of North Waziristan in Pakistan. It is the site of a town, which has s small airfield that was built by the British for World War II. The area in which Miranshah sits is extremely dangerous mainly due to Taliban activities and U.S. Drone...
in Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...
, to meet Zahir Noor, alleged to be a Taliban leader.
Ghezali is reported to have explained that the group were traveling to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
to participate in what Swedish newspaper The Local described as "a harmless meeting with a Muslim revivalist movement, Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat is a religious movement which was founded in 1926 by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in India. The movement primarily aims at Tablighi spiritual reformation by working at the grass roots level, reaching out to Muslims across all social and economic spectra to bring them closer to...
."
The Swedes were released on 10 October 2009.
They were placed on a plane to Sweden at 800 GMT.
Rehman Malik
Rehman Malik
27 April 2009 He has been the interior adviser since 27 March 2008.Senator A. Rehman Malik is a Pakistani politician, member of the Senate of Pakistan, and the current Interior Minister of Pakistan under the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani administration. His Second name is Shetan Malik and he...
Pakistan’s Minister of the Interior had told Swedish diplomats on 6 October 2009 that he would be receiving a formal report on the Swedes on 7 October 2009, and that he would make a decision about their continued detention at that point.
Swedish paper The Local reported one additional anonymous allegation, that the group "were found in a prohibited area near a nuclear power facility."
Ulrika Sundberg
Ulrika Sundberg
Ulrika Sundberg is a Swedish diplomat.Her most recent appointment was Sweden's ambassador to Belgium .In 2002 Sundberg wrote a paper entitled, “Durban: The Third World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance,” in the International Review of Penal Law.It...
, the Swedish Ambassador, accompanied the Swedes to their flight.
As of the time of their release Swedish officials had still not received a formal report from Pakistan explaining why the four were detained.
During a 23 November 2009 press conference Ghezali's lawyers offered more details of the trip.
The asserted that Ghezali and his companions had made a last minute decision, during a tour of middle eastern countries, to alter their plans to include Pakistan in their itinerary. They were told by their tour coordinator that the visas for travel within Pakistan could be arranged upon their arrival.
His lawyers expressed concern that Swedish intelligence officials continued to keep Ghezali under surveillance.
They expressed concern that the press speculation that his travel to Pakistan had been inspired by support for jihadism
Jihadism
Jihadism is a term to describe the renewed focus on armed jihad in radical Islamic fundamentalism....
was unfair and unsupported by any evidence.