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Ex-Gitmo Detainee Praises ‘Greatness of American People’ | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Mohamedou Ould Slahi. INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS


Washington – A senior official in the Pentagon said that 41 detainees remained in Guantanamo bay prison, the prosecution of 31 of them has started – including the 10 leaders who plotted September 11 attacks in 2001.

Last week, and for the first time, the Mauritanian former detainee Mohamedou Slahi appeared in a US TV channel, and he is the first detainee to write a book that was published while he was in prison.

In his first TV interview since being released last October, he told his remarkable story on 60 Minutes show hosted by Holly Williams.

Slahi, who spoke almost no English when he arrived at Guantanamo, soaked up the language by reading popular books and conversing with his guards and interrogators.

He told Williams that his guards became like family to him.

“Guantanamo Diary,” published with the help of his lawyers, was reviewed in the New York Times.

He lit up when Williams showed him a copy of the review that he had never seen before.

“That shows the greatness of American people. Not my greatness because American people believe in justice. And they decided to give me a forum, to give me a voice.”