Gitmo suicide had been prisoners' representative

Almost five months before he was found dead at Guantanamo Bay, a detainee volunteered to represent prisoners in talks with the military and left his jailhouse for a meeting with the detention camp's most senior commanders. But he never returned — from then on, he was held in the prison's psychiatric ward, a former detainee recalled.

Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi died in the ward this month in what the military has called an apparent suicide — the fifth since the prison opened and the first on President Barack Obama's watch.

Andrew O. Selsky reports for the Associated Press:

The U.S. military has refused to say how Saleh allegedly killed himself in the closely watched psychiatric ward. But the former detainee, Binyam Mohamed, said it wasn't like him to commit suicide.

"He was patient and encouraged others to be the same," Mohamed said. "He never viewed suicide as a means to end his despair."

Even if it was suicide, Mohamed still classifies the death as "murder, or unlawful killing, whichever way you look at it," saying that the U.S. had caused Saleh to lose hope by locking him up indefinitely without charges.

Mohamed was transferred in February to Britain, which released him. His account, sent to The Associated Press Wednesday by one of his lawyers, provides some details about the dead man's detention for the first time.

Mohamed said Saleh left their high-security Camp 5 jailhouse for a meeting on Jan. 17 with Rear Adm. David Thomas and Army Col. Bruce Vargo. Thomas is the top commander of the military's joint task force that runs the prison and related operations in Cuba. Vargo commands the joint detention group.

It is unclear what happened at the meeting, or if it came off at all. But Mohamed, who himself was asked by the military to be a prisoners' representative but declined, said Saleh never returned to Camp 5 and was instead put into Guantanamo's Behavioral Health Unit, where detainees with mental problems are held and closely monitored.

Asked about the meeting, Guantanamo's spokesman said it is not unusual for detainees to speak with the commanders of the task force and the detention group. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt declined to give details.

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