Pakistan's Gitmo Prisoners Pose Problem

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Jan 29, 2009— -- Mohammed Saad Iqbal never imagined that his 26th birthday would be the first of many spent behind the concrete walls and barbed-wire fences of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Over nearly eight years, the Pakistani preacher was transferred through four detention facilities, starting from the scene of his arrest in Jakarta, Indonesia in late 2001. After that, it was on to Cairo, Egypt, Islamabad, Pakistan and the Bagram Collection Point (now called the Bagram Detention Center) near Kabul, Afghanistan before finally making it to Guantanamo Bay in early 2003.

There was no trial. No legal counsel. No phone call home.

American and Egyptian interrogators accused him of mingling with the likes of Osama bin Laden and shoe bomber Richard Reid, making him a terrorist by association, he says.

Iqbal maintains his innocence. "I'd never been to Afghanistan; I've never met Osama bin Laden; I've never picked up a weapon nor have I had any training; even I never curse," he said.

His voice grows shaky and his eyes timid as he recalls the endless cycles of torture and psychological abuse he says he endured throughout his years in captivity. He claims it was so bad he tried to kill himself twice and went on numerous hunger strikes to protest his mistreatment.

Today, less than five months after his release, he is safe within the confines of his modest Lahore home, surrounded by family and friends, and free to savor a glimpse of sunlight or a breath of fresh air.

Still, the painful memories of his years in Guantanamo Bay linger as he suffers from physical disabilities that hinder his efforts to find a job and reintegrate into society. He recently retired his walker in favor of a cane, which he still needs due to knee injuries he alleges to have suffered from electric shocks to his legs.

Like many Pakistanis, Iqbal welcomes news of the executive order signed by President Barack Obama to shut down the prison within a year, but he says his physical and emotional scars will not heal by a stroke of the pen.

"In Iraq we recently saw a journalist throw at President Bush his shoes," Iqbal says.

"I hoped that he got one hit and feels pain for two seconds then compare this pain with the pain I felt in Guantanamo for almost seven years."