Two released Guantanamo prisoners raise a glass in Montevideo
- 10 years ago
ROUGH CUT (No reporter narration)
Omar Mahmoud Faraj from Syria and Tunisian Adel bin Muhammas el Ouerghi from Tunisia appeared at their Montevideo balcony on Friday morning.
Faraj, wearing a blue shirt, had been held at Guantanamo for 12 years. He has thanked Uruguay in an open letter on Monday for helping free him from "that black hole". He, el Ouerghi and four others were flown to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by U.S. President Barack Obama to close the widely-condemned prison where most detainees have never been charged or tried.
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica accepted a U.S. request to take some inmates from Guantanamo and he has said the men - four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian - can leave whenever they want or stay as long as they want.
Guantanamo was opened by former U.S. President George W. Bush, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, to house terrorism suspects rounded up overseas.
Omar Mahmoud Faraj from Syria and Tunisian Adel bin Muhammas el Ouerghi from Tunisia appeared at their Montevideo balcony on Friday morning.
Faraj, wearing a blue shirt, had been held at Guantanamo for 12 years. He has thanked Uruguay in an open letter on Monday for helping free him from "that black hole". He, el Ouerghi and four others were flown to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, the latest step in a slow-moving push by U.S. President Barack Obama to close the widely-condemned prison where most detainees have never been charged or tried.
Uruguayan President Jose Mujica accepted a U.S. request to take some inmates from Guantanamo and he has said the men - four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian - can leave whenever they want or stay as long as they want.
Guantanamo was opened by former U.S. President George W. Bush, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, to house terrorism suspects rounded up overseas.