‘Yasser’s Body Bears Marks of Beating’
Samir Al-Saadi & Ali Al-Jibreel, Arab News/Eqtisadiah —

JEDDAH, 19 June 2006 — The father of Yasser Al-Zahrani, one of the Saudis who died in Guantanamo Bay recently, dismissed US claims that his son had committed suicide and said there were bruises on his son’s body, which arrived in the Kingdom on Saturday together with that of Manie Shaman Al-Utaibi.

“There are marks on Yasser’s body that show that he was beaten. This is in spite of the fact that 20 days have passed since his death and the body had undergone reconditioning,” Brig. Talal Abdullah Al-Zahrani told Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, a sister publication of Arab News.

Al-Zahrani said he had seen part of Yasser’s body, including his head, face and chest, at Shumaisy Hospital.

US authorities returned Yasser’s body after conducting a postmortem. Yasser’s family has rejected the American postmortem report, which claims he had committed suicide, and called for another postmortem by a neutral body.

This article, appearing jointly in Arab News and the Arabic economic daily Eqtisadiah, shows that the question of “suicide” or “foul play” is very much alive. What’s more disconcerting, though, is that the father of one of these men has simply made up his mind and will not be swayed by evidence contrary to his belief: ” He emphasized that the result of the Saudi autopsy would not change his conviction that the American authorities strangled his son.”

The AKI news agency also has a story that notes:

Riyadh, 19 June (AKI/DAWN) – Saudi authorities have ordered post-mortems on the bodies of two nationals repatriated from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The two men and a Yemeni inmate were found dead in their cells on 10 June and had apparently committed suicide. The autopsies are being carried out with the permission of the Saudi men’s families. The family of the Yemeni man said to have committed suicide is refusing to bury him, demanding an investigation into his death.