Episode at Guantanamo Leaves Family at a Loss
Faiza Saleh Ambah

MEDINA, Saudi Arabia — Mishal al-Harbi’s brain was deprived of oxygen for several minutes on the evening of Jan. 16, 2003, while he was in U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As a result, he cannot stand, his speech is slurred, and he has a twitch that periodically causes his head to shake and his legs to jerk.

U.S. authorities say Mishal’s brain was damaged when he tried to hang himself at Guantanamo. But his brother Fahd says a beating by prison guards cut off the flow of oxygen, leaving Mishal unable to walk or talk properly. Fahd said his brother needs intensive physical therapy and costly medicine to control his seizures and hallucinations — side effects of the injury — and he wants the U.S. government to help pay for them.

This piece by The Washington Post‘s Saudi Arabia correspondent notes that just what happened to Al-Harbi is unclear. What is certain, though, is his condition now. The story tells, in general terms, how he ended up in Afghanistan and then in American custody.