Gitmo families reject suicide claim, demand autopsy

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse than the outrageous statement the US released after their deaths, it appears that the Gitmo "suicide" scandal may be far from over. Families of at least two of the deceased detainees reject the claim that they committed suicide and have demanded their bodies be returned for autopsy and burial.

Family members of a Saudi inmate found dead at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba said Thursday they want his body back for an autopsy because they do not believe U.S. claims that he committed suicide.

In a phone interview [from the] ultraconservative province of Al-Qasim, the sister of Mani Shaman Turki al-Habradi al-Utaybi said she would never believe her brother had taken his own life.

"He was an extremely devout Muslim who would never, never, never commit suicide," Manyia Shaman Turki al-Habradi al-Utaybi said.

This occurred to me when I first heard the report, but absent evidence that they were devout Muslims, I did not assume they would adhere to the Islamic prohibition against suicide, partly because I assumed that the bodies would be immediately returned to their families and that any discrepency in the cause of death would easily be spotted.

Believe it or not, I never imagined that the Bush administration would be stupid enough to lie. Go figure.

The U.S. Defense Department said al-Utaybi, Yasser Talal al-Zahrani of Saudi Arabia and Ali Abdullah Ahmed of Yemen hanged themselves in their cells early Saturday, using nooses made from sheets and clothing.

Ahmed's parents told The Associated Press Wednesday that they too want their son's body flown home for burial, and that they considered him a martyr killed by the United States.

"I respect and love the friendly American people, but they should know more what (President) Bush is doing against the Muslims," Mohammed Abdullah al-Aslami said at his home in Yemen.

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Al-Utaybi's sister accused the U.S. of killing her brother.

"I strongly assure to you that the Americans are behind his death," she said. "We lived together for a long time, and I know that he is someone with strong faith," she added. Suicide is prohibited under Islam.

She also called for the U.S. to send his body back to Saudi Arabia for an autopsy and proper burial.

"I hope that they bring his body back (to Saudi Arabia) so I can see him for the first time in five years, and to be buried in the land of Islam," al-Utaybi said.

She shouldn't have to "hope" that her brother's body is returned. It should be returned as a matter of right.

Detaining them while they're alive is one thing, but what does the US want with their dead bodies???