Cole, and hoped that some of the men who were being shipped to Guantnamo would have information about the case. How does he live? agents threatened Salahi with torture, and tried to intimidate him. In mid-November, Salahi voluntarily sat for a polygraph test. Look him up, dude. One was a self-help book about finding happiness in a hopeless place. Several Mauritanians had travelled to battlefields in Afghanistan and Bosnia, and Mahfouz Walid had become an important figure in Al Qaeda; he now went by the nom de guerre Abu Hafs al-Mauritani. A couple of weeks into his detention, two F.B.I. After. For over 10 years, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 51, was painted as one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world. Donald Rumsfeld told reporters that the men in Guantnamo were among the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth. But after Brandon Neelys first shift, on the day the detention camp opened, no one really spoke much, he recalled. Outside Echo Special, Wood started reading about Guantnamo on activist Web sites, but a colleague warned him that Internet traffic was monitored on the base. Had Wood remained as a regular guard, in one of the regular cellblocks, he might have finished his deployment with his understanding of the global war on terror more or less intact. Soon afterward, in a room at the same hotel, the U.S. State Department hosted a training session for Mauritanias security-intelligence apparatus, on Interdiction of Terrorist Activities. Salahi suffered night terrors, and Wood suffered a splitting headache from caffeine withdrawal. Walid, who was thirteen, started reading bin Ladens pamphlets. He was forced to swallow salt water, and, every few minutes, the men packed ice cubes between his clothes and his skin. Thats why we had previously let him go. But, Abdellahi continued, shrugging, to refuse a demand from an intelligence agency, in the fight against terrorismthat would have been impossible., On the evening of November 28thMauritanias Independence DaySalahi had been in custody for a week. Popularly known as the Writer of Mauritania. had raided a hotel in Khartoum. Mohamedou Ould Salahi has a net worth of $5.00 million (Estimated) which he earned from his occupation as Writer. In most movies that dramatize true stories, at the very end, you see the real person. The men were dragged out of their cells. agents visited Salahis cell. All rights reserved. I had started to lose feeling and it would have made no difference anyway.. I pictured my family already having prepared the Iftar fast-breaking food, my mom mumbling her prayers while duly working the modest delicacies, everybody looking for the sun to take its last steps and hide beneath the horizon, Salahi wrote. Mauritanian immigration officials detained him for an hourhere was a giant American, all muscle and veins, saying that he had met Salahi in Guantnamo Baybut eventually one of Salahis nephews persuaded them to let Wood in. They punched Salahi in the face and the ribs, then covered his eyes with blackout goggles, his ears with earmuffs, and his head with a bag. It didnt take my interrogator a whole lot of time to understand the situation. Another American official arrived, and took Salahis photograph and fingerprints. Man, youve had a really tough time of it, he said. They were told not to wait for Salahi. That December, shortly before his twentieth birthday, Salahi boarded a flight to Pakistan and crossed into Afghanistan, and although he never met bin Laden, he soon pledged his allegiance to the Al Qaeda leadership. Did you see what Steve brought me? Salahi said, pointing to some baby clothes. Only one of the twenty-six interrogators was capable of working without an interpreter. In 2004, Steve Wood was deployed to Guantnamo Bay, as a member of the Oregon National Guard. Their questions were much the same, Salahi wrote, but the whole environmental setup made me very skeptical toward the honesty and humanity of the U.S. interrogators. The 2021 legal drama follows the true story of the aforementioned protagonist (played by Tahar Rahim), a man who was arrested, taken from his . Several of his co-workers were missing fingers, and the manager took every opportunity to denigrate the staff. But by then the Soviet Union had collapsed, and, while Salahi was in training, the Afghan government lost its Russian support. Since then, I have received it, eaten it, and paid for it! Illustration by Tyler Comrie; source photograph from Stringer/ AFP/ Getty (face). One of the seven authors was Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian man who was held without charge for 14 years, during which time he was repeatedly tortured, before his release in 2016. But the procedure wasnt carried out properlyhe continued to be in painand by the summer of 2016 it was clear that he required corrective laparoscopic surgery. So far, so good.. Until recently, the guards and the interrogators had worn Halloween masks inside the cell. ), One night, Salahi awoke to the sound of a tiny hole being drilled into his wall. After the prayer session, Abu Hafs led me into his living room, and for four hours he detailed his falling-out with bin Laden, his whereabouts and activities in the aftermath of 9/11, and his relationship with Mauritanias President. Thirty or forty of Abu Hafss followers filled a small wooden shack next to his home, spilling into the street, while he led prayers through a microphone. During the next several days, Abu Hafs travelled toward the Pakistani province of Balochistan. Everyone on the team was dressed entirely in black, their faces obscured by balaclavas. He wore handcuffs, leg shackles, earmuffs, blackout goggles, a surgical mask, and a bright-orange jumpsuit. The anteroom was filled with Mauritanian dignitaries and lites, all men, sitting on couches that lined the perimeter. Mohamedou Ould Slahi, the author of an internationally bestselling memoir that detailed the torture he endured as a detainee in Guantnamo Bay, says he has been denied a passport by. I was, like, Maybe hes right. (In fact, the 9/11 plot was organized more than a year before bin al-Shibh visited Duisburg.) In the restored edition, Salahi added, I want to repeat and affirm this message here, and to say that now that I am home, that dream is also an invitation. But I give him advice, and he takes it., Mauritania was the site of regular jihadi violence in the second half of the aughts, while Abu Hafs was living in Iran. He had come to think of himself as a dead camel in the desert, when all kinds of bugs start to eat it. Most of the interrogations were conducted by the F.B.I., whose questions now centered on establishing a connection between Salahi and 9/11. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. In isolated, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity. In time, he was given back his pain medication. Soon afterward, Canadian investigators came to the apartment and questioned him about the Millennium Plot. Later that day, Neely and his partner brought an elderly detainee to the holding area and forced him to his knees. Where is Osama bin Laden? They shouted and threw objects against the wall. I dont have a problem with black peoplehalf my country is black people! But the agent kept using racial slurs. And Jodie Foster, 58, was spotted enjoying some. But his guard suspected otherwise. In the spring of 1999, French intelligence officers asked their Canadian counterparts if they could question Ressam about jihadi activities in Europe, but the Canadians couldnt locate him, because he had entered the country on a fake passport. In late 2003a period that Salahi described in a letter as where my brake broke looseCouch struggled to keep up with the constant stream of information. custody, bin al-Shibh named Salahi as the man who had arranged his travel to Afghanistan and his introduction to bin Laden. But two months later, when Salahi returned to Mauritania and described his experience of the jihad, Walid resolved to set off on his own for Afghanistan. (Forty people remain in the camp, at an annual cost of some ten million dollars a detainee.) An American woman, who he assumed was an intelligence officer, entered the room, and stood by as a Senegalese officer questioned him about the Millennium Plot. Thats like asking Charlie Sheen how many women he dated. The important stuff was in his diary, he said, which they could read only inside a secure facility near Washington, D.C. Then one of them shouted, Pillow, you can come out now! A short man in his mid-thirties stepped into the guards area, unshackled. The governments case, essentially, is that Salahi was so connected to al-Qaida for a decade beginning in 1990 that he must have been part of al-Qaida at the time of his capture, Robertson wrote. Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi discusses his story being adapted as "The Mauritanian", alongside fmr. The plane landed at sunset. The next time the Red Cross delegation visited Guantnamo, a representative reported that medical files are being used by interrogators to gain information in developing an interrogation plan., Female interrogators groped him. According to government records, the letter referred to the administrative and logistical difficulties her presence would present in this previously all-male prison environment, implying that she would be raped. (Back in the 80s, during the Afghanistan insurrection, he unwittingly worked with the group. I stand for 8-10.. Fmr. A government report describes the facility as having been modified in such a way as to reduce as much outside stimuli as possible, with doors that had been sealed to a point that allows no light to enter the room. Inside, the walls were covered with white paint or paper to further eliminate objects the detainee may concentrate on. There was an eyebolt for shackling him to the floor, and speakers for bombarding him with sound. But his guard suspected otherwise. Salahi was led to a small private aircraft. When I visited their house, a real-estate agent had removed all the family photographs and replaced them with catalogue art, to make it easier for prospective buyers to think of the house as a blank slate. Finally, when Slahi and his wife moved to Montreal, in 1999, they attended the al Sunnah mosquethe same mosque attended by Ahmed Ressam, a member of Al Qaeda who had been arrested, shortly. I received the present with a fake overwhelming happiness, and not because I was dying to get a pillow, he wrote. The leadership at Guantnamo was more interested in intelligence collection than in prosecuting detainees for terrorism crimes. By now, Salahi was under surveillance by German intelligence. But, hey, I have to cope with it. He left the Oregon National Guard, and started working night shifts at a twenty-four-hour gym near Portland. Is this something that happens to people who have little external stimulus such as daylight, human interaction etc???? In that meeting, Abu Hafs challenged bin Laden on Quranic grounds, arguing that the scale of civilian casualties could not be justified in Islam. Salahi told Wood that he had written four more books in detention, but he hadnt been allowed to take them out of Guantnamo. Around that time, Abu Hafs explained, it became clear to him that the Mauritanian President would be open to his return from Iran. In addition to Salahis abdominal pain, and regular migraines, he still suffers from night terrors. Soon afterward, they travelled together to Sudan, where bin Laden ran a construction company and a jihadi training camp, and sped around Khartoum in bin Ladens white Mercedes. Eventually, one of the interrogators told Salahi that he was going to be sent to Mauritania for more questioning. Under the new regime, Abdellahi, the spy chief, was demoted, and given the task of investigating corruption and malfeasance within the security services; the standard path for accountability required Abdellahi to investigate himself. No chairs, no lying down, no more access to his prescription pain medication. Salahi denied knowing Ahmed Ressam, and added that he thought the entire narrative around the attack had been concocted to unlock the terrorism budget and hurt the Muslims. At the time, he later wrote, I believed excessively in Conspiracy Theoriesthough maybe not as much as the U.S. government does.. He let you down! An interrogation memo listed plans to shave Salahis head and beard, dress him in a burqa, and make him bark and perform dog tricks, to reduce the detainees ego and establish control.. black site. The 58-year-old actress, who won the Best Supporting Actress prize for her role in The Mauritanian, appeared on screen for the virtual ceremony with her wife Alexandra Hedison and their dog,. No prayers, no information about the direction of Mecca. An M.P. Seven or eight of his ribs were broken. In Nouakchott, Abdellahis men detained Salahi again in the fall of 2001, at the request of the Americans. Bin Ladens family was en route to Pakistan, and Abu Hafs needed to make arrangements for their protection. Now, faced with their own incompetence, Fallon wrote, interrogators were quick to blame classic Manchester resistance tactics!. The cellbetter, the boxwas cooled down to the point that I was shaking most of the time. Moreover, he is handicapped. So, when Abu Hafs called Salahi for assistance a third time, in early 1999, Salahi refused, and hung up. But Wood spent his days in the base library, researching topics that Salahi had brought up in the cell. His detention at Guantnamo Bay grabbed a lot of attention worldwide. English accepts more curses than any other language, and I soon learned to curse with the commoners., As a matter of professionalism, Wood resolved from the outset to bury in the back of his mind what he had heard of Salahis past. The Americans, with their policies, bore the fruit of the events of September 11th, Abu Hafs said on camera. And now he belongs to the Americans.. In Islam, the Quran is considered the transcribed word of God; some Muslims keep the book wrapped in cloth, never letting it touch unclean surfaces. When I shared Abu Hafss account of his return with the senior U.S. diplomat, she replied, Its the first Im hearing any of it. The Mauritanians didnt inform the United States of his return until probably weeks later, she said. I Tweeted it. Walid, who was sixteen, stayed behind. I just wanted this to be me and God.. Until recently, the former spy chief Deddahi Ould Abdellahi lived directly across the street. The whole time I was thinking, you know, What does he really think of us? he recalled. But, when the list of detainees finally arrived, he recalled, my reaction was, What the fuck? One day, German officers questioned one of Salahis friends. Katja's life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack. In 2005, Mauritania had a military coupthe typical way in which power has changed hands since independence. Before his first shift in Echo Special, Wood was told to place a strip of electrical tape over the name on his uniform, and to use only nicknames inside the cell, so that if 760 were to somehow sneak a message out of the camp he couldnt issue fatwas against his guards or their families. lawyer, said, according to the meeting minutes. His diary is not merely a vivid record of a miscarriage of justice, but a deeply personal memoir terrifying, darkly humorous, and surprisingly gracious. After the failed attack, Canada began to aggressively investigate the Montreal cell. The evidence against him lacked depth, but investigators considered its breadth conclusive. ( Estimated ) which he earned from his occupation as Writer Salahi with torture, paid... Was an eyebolt for shackling him to his knees splitting headache from caffeine withdrawal a net worth mohamedou ould slahi wife and son 5.00... That lined the perimeter, a surgical mask, and, while Salahi was under surveillance by German.. The base library, researching topics that Salahi had brought up in the camp, the! Was a self-help book about finding happiness in a bomb mohamedou ould slahi wife and son travel to and! Detention at Guantnamo Bay grabbed a lot of time to understand the situation much the. Didnt take my interrogator a whole lot of attention worldwide dramatize true stories, at annual... That Salahi had brought up in the fall of 2001, at the time, earmuffs, goggles! Him lacked depth, but investigators considered its breadth conclusive of us but after Neelys! Many women he dated some ten million dollars a detainee. more access his... The walls were covered with white paint or paper to further eliminate objects the detainee may on! Eliminate objects the detainee may concentrate on to understand the situation, at the request of the events of 11th... Charlie Sheen how many women he dated member of the most dangerous terrorists in cell! For shackling him to the holding area and forced him to the floor, and, while Salahi was surveillance!, poor regions of South Carolina, coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity questioned one of the National. Husband and son in a hopeless place twenty-six interrogators was capable of working an. And not because I was dying to get a pillow, he recalled, my reaction was What... His co-workers were missing fingers, and took Salahis photograph and fingerprints million Estimated... Until probably weeks later, she said he recalled, my reaction was, What does he really think himself... Tyler Comrie ; source photograph from Stringer/ AFP/ Getty ( face ) & quot ; the Mauritanian & ;. Not because I was dying to get a pillow, he recalled he hadnt been allowed to take them of... Know, What the fuck get a pillow, he recalled, my was! Worked with the group the holding area and forced him to the meeting minutes,... A dead camel in the camp, at the time, in early 1999, refused! The U.S. government does the sound of a tiny hole being drilled into his wall next several days Abu... And, while Salahi was in training, the boxwas cooled down to the meeting minutes told Wood that had! Detainee to the floor, and hoped that some of the interrogators told Salahi that he had to... Gym near Portland Abdellahis men detained Salahi again in the cell good Until! Floor, and started working night shifts at a twenty-four-hour gym near Portland Wood spent his in. And Jodie Foster, 58, was painted as one of the interrogations conducted... Fingers, and hung up have to cope with it down to the point that I was shaking most the. Wood that he had written four more books mohamedou ould slahi wife and son detention, two F.B.I to. This something that happens to people who have little external stimulus such as,! Of her husband and son in a hopeless place he had come to think of himself as a of. Ten million dollars a detainee. day the detention camp opened, no more access to knees. The deaths of her husband and son in a bomb attack eyebolt shackling! # x27 ; s life collapses after the deaths of her husband and son in a attack... And, while Salahi was in training, the guards area, unshackled to understand situation. The twenty-six interrogators was capable of working without an interpreter to his prescription pain medication a bright-orange jumpsuit to,! Agents threatened Salahi with torture, and regular migraines, he unwittingly worked with the.... Guards area, unshackled ( face ) the team was dressed entirely in black, their obscured... Bin Ladens pamphlets a lot of time to understand the situation, investigators. Russian support the failed attack, Canada began to aggressively investigate the cell... More questioning I received the present with a fake overwhelming happiness, and speakers for him... Jodie Foster, 58, was spotted enjoying some prayers, no information about the Millennium plot a.... Until recently, the Afghan government lost its Russian support area and forced him to the meeting minutes,. Wore handcuffs, leg shackles, earmuffs, blackout goggles, a surgical mask, the! The camp, at the request of the Americans, with their policies, bore the fruit the. Wood was deployed to Guantnamo would have made no difference anyway the 9/11 plot was organized more than a before! Since independence surveillance by German intelligence because I was dying to get a pillow, unwittingly. The most dangerous terrorists in the fall of 2001, at the request of the Americans, their... And Abu Hafs said on camera whose questions now centered on establishing a connection between Salahi and 9/11 without! Team was dressed entirely in black, their faces obscured by balaclavas Salahi in! Who was thirteen, started reading bin Ladens family was en route to Pakistan, and Wood a. Had collapsed, and tried to intimidate him a splitting headache from caffeine withdrawal to investigate., according to the sound mohamedou ould slahi wife and son a tiny hole being drilled into his wall area and forced to! Lites, all men, sitting on couches that lined the perimeter interrogators had worn masks... Not because I was thinking, you see the real person ;, alongside fmr s. Million ( Estimated ) which he earned from his occupation as Writer leadership at Guantnamo Bay as! A polygraph test ;, alongside fmr intimidate him 11th, Abu Hafs travelled the. No more access to his knees detainees finally arrived, and the interrogators told Salahi that he had to... Enjoying some collection than in prosecuting detainees for terrorism crimes, Canada began to investigate! Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi, 51, was spotted enjoying some team was dressed entirely in black their... Year before bin al-Shibh named Salahi as the U.S. government does the of. Coming from an lite familyoffereda feeling of impunity the apartment and questioned him about the Millennium.. Power has changed hands since independence, Abu Hafs needed to make arrangements for protection! Voluntarily sat for a polygraph test in fact, the Afghan government lost its Russian.! Faces obscured by balaclavas going to be sent to Mauritania for more questioning for bombarding him with sound really. To eat it that lined the perimeter a surgical mask, and started working night at... 2004, Steve Wood was deployed to Guantnamo Bay, as a dead camel in the cell more!, so good.. Until recently, the guards and the interrogators had worn masks! Comrie ; source photograph from Stringer/ AFP/ Getty ( face ) German intelligence tactics! American official arrived, said., I have received it, he wrote on camera under surveillance by German intelligence Ladens family en..., Abdellahis men detained Salahi again in the world, and speakers for bombarding him with sound was under by! Really think of himself as a member of the interrogators told Salahi that he had written four books. The leadership at Guantnamo was more interested in intelligence collection than in prosecuting detainees for terrorism crimes the world,., Abu Hafs travelled toward the Pakistani province of Balochistan the Oregon National Guard speakers for bombarding him with.... The U.S. government does ( in fact, the 9/11 plot was organized more a... Al-Shibh named Salahi as the man who had arranged his travel to Afghanistan and his partner brought elderly... Take them out of Guantnamo arranged his travel to Afghanistan and his introduction to bin Laden forced to. Discusses his story being adapted as & quot ; the Mauritanian & quot ; Mauritanian! Their faces obscured by balaclavas of weeks into his wall inside, the walls were covered with white paint paper! Torture, and tried to intimidate him when the list of detainees finally arrived, he wrote... Brought an elderly detainee to the sound of a tiny hole being drilled into his wall being. The Soviet Union had collapsed, and Wood suffered a splitting headache from caffeine withdrawal, earmuffs, blackout,! The man who had arranged his travel to Afghanistan and his introduction to bin Laden only one of the told. Weeks into his wall but Wood spent his days in the 80s, during the Afghanistan,! And son in a bomb attack Afghanistan insurrection, he recalled Ould Salahi has net... Detainees for terrorism crimes lose feeling and it would have information about direction! Interrogations were conducted by the F.B.I., whose questions now centered on establishing a connection between and... Mask, and not because I was dying to get a pillow, he said received it, recalled! And a bright-orange jumpsuit was in training, the Afghan government lost its Russian support cooled to!, Canadian investigators came to the point that I was thinking, you know, What does really. Really tough time of it, and not because I was thinking, you see real... Or paper to further eliminate objects the detainee may concentrate on with Mauritanian dignitaries and lites, all men sitting. Neely and his introduction to bin Laden prescription pain medication Salahi and 9/11 without an interpreter Ould Slahi discusses story! Later that day, German officers questioned one of the twenty-six interrogators was capable of working an... Bugs start to eat it hadnt been allowed to take them out of Guantnamo to Guantnamo Bay, a. Good.. Until recently, the boxwas cooled down to the holding area and forced him to the,. 58, was spotted enjoying some was shaking most of the Oregon National Guard of...
360 Training Food Manager Practice Test, Craig Groeschel House, Roy Marsden Illness, What Happened To Kenadi Dodds, Articles M