Sudan journalists protest detention of colleague at Guantanamo
Jan 28, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — Television stations in Sudan turned black for three minutes on Sunday to protest the detention of a Sudanese cameraman held in U.S. custody at the Guantanamo Bay prison for more than five years.
Like several hundred other men held at Guantanamo on allegations they have links to international terrorism, al-Hajj has not been tried.
“We want him released immediately or, if there are any charges against him, that he be presented to trial” said Mohammed Mustafa Mamoon, the spokesman for the Sudanese TV union that organized the protest.
Sudan’s state television and the private Blue Nile Satellite TV suspended broadcasting for three minutes at 10 p.m. local time (1900GMT) in a sign of solidarity with al-Hajj, the spokesman said.
Osama bin Laden, who’s terrorist organization has often used Al-Jazeera to broadcast messages, mentioned al-Hajj in an audiotape released last May, saying the cameraman had no ties to al-Qaida.
Mamoon said al-Hajj has been on hunger strike for the past three weeks to protest his conditions of detention and ask for his release. Mamoon did not say how he obtained this information, which could not be independently verified.
A lawyer representing al-Hajj was not immediately available for comment Sunday, and the U.S. military, which runs the prison, does not confirm the identity of individual hunger strikers.
Several Sudanese nationals are being held at Guantanamo, including the cameraman. Details on his arrest have not been made public.
Last week, hundreds protested in Khartoum against al-Hajj’s prolonged detention and demonstrators including members of his family and some colleagues handed a memo demanding his release to the U.S. embassy.
The U.S. and Sudan have long had strained diplomatic relations but are reported to cooperate on counterterrorism issues despite a growing antagonism over how to pacify Darfur, where the White House says Khartoum is perpetrating a genocide.
Some 759 people have been held over the years at Guantanamo, according to U.S. Defense Department documents released to The Associated Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
(AP)