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This is an archive article published on January 19, 2007

Inmate146;s letter records pain, isolation at Guantanamo

Majid Khan, a 26-yr-old Pakistani national, wrote to his wife he sometimes talks with other detainees through cell walls

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One of the 14 8220;high value8221; detainees transferred last year from secret CIA prisons to the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says in a letter to his wife that she should not dwell on the thought of his return, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

8220;If I come back, it will be a miracle of God,8221; terrorism suspect Majid Khan, 26, says in the handwritten letter to his Pakistani wife, published on an Urdu language Web site operated by the BBC, the newspaper reported.

The letter and three others to relatives in Maryland were the first substantial communication from any of the 14 prisoners who spent time in CIA prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo in September, the Post said.

Khan, a Pakistani national, wrote that he is held in solitary confinement, is allowed to leave his cell 8220;to get sunburn8221; for one hour each day and he sometimes talks with other inmates through cell walls, the newspaper reported.

Other than those particulars, the letters contained few details of his confinement, the Post said.

The letters, redacted by military censors, were delivered to Khan8217;s relatives through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the newspaper said.

The US government has denied Khan and other high-value detainees access to lawyers, arguing in court filings that CIA interrogation methods to which they were subjected are among the most sensitive national security secrets, the Post reported.

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As a result, little is known about the arrests, detentions or interrogations of the 14 captives.

The newspaper reported that US officials say Khan, a Pakistani national, took orders from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States and also a high-value prisoner at Guantanamo.

Khan8217;s brother in suburban Baltimore, Mahmood Khan, told The Washington Post the family was releasing the letters it received last month in order to draw attention to the case.

 

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