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Freed detainee calls Guantanamo 'Hell'

United Press International
February 27, 2007


MADRID, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- He still faces prosecution in Spain but Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, a Spanish prisoner extradited from Guantanamo, says is happy to have "escaped the hell."

Before his extradition, Ahmed was the only Spanish prisoner held at the U.S. Navy base Cuba for alleged ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.

Ahmed, arrested in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, will now be prosecuted in Spain on the same charge. He is being held near Madrid.

In an interview with a Spanish radio station, Ahmed alleged U.S. soldiers at Guantanamo stepped on his head as he lay face down on the ground.

"We were stepped on and tied with a thin string that made us bleed," he said.

Ahmed condemned the Sept. 11 attacks and denounced "terrorism and the killing of women and children." He said he had nothing to do with al-Qaida.

Since arriving in Spain, Ahmed said "everything is better, I have left hell."

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