Guantanamo detainee not allowed to return home

Bon in Egypt, the 36 year old Al-Mashad had emigrated in Italy and then he went to Afghanistan. After Guantanamo, now he is facing another problem. The Albanian government doesn’t allow him to return to his homeland.

In this interview he explains his efforts for joining his family, how he was arrested in Afghanistan, the time spent in Guantanamo, and his new life in Albania, where he has been married with an Albanian girl, and his request to the US court for cleaning his name as a terrorist suspect.

Top Channel: When did you address a request to the Albanian government for returning you to Egypt?

Al-Mashad: 8 months ago. I have never taken a clear response. I spoke with the Director of Refugees, Drita Avdyli, and the Interior Ministry officials. They asked guarantee from Egypt that if I will return in my country, I will not be persecuted. This documentation has arrived and I have a copy. Also, our Ambassador in Egypt has given this document to the Interior, Foreign and Justice Ministries. I am not having a hard time in Albania, but I have my reasons for wanting to visit my family in Egypt. I have to meet my sick and old aged mother. On the other hand, I am very proud that I am in Albania. I have been married with an Albanian woman, but I would like the Albanian state to behave more formally. There is no reason for them to treat as with a phobia. We don’t have to pay anymore, after spending some 8 years in the Guantanamo prisons.

Top Channel: Do you know what has happened with other people that have been detained to Guantanamo and who have been sheltered in other European countries? Have they returned to their families?

Al-Mashad: I understand that 40 people from Guantanamo are spread around Europe, with 20 of them in Great Britain. Somke of them have returned in their countries or they can move freely in Europe. This makes me wonder why the Albanian state insists for me to stay here and not return in my homeland. Italy, Switzerland, Britain and the Czech Republic have allowed their Guantanamo detainees to return to their countries, while the Albanian state is not giving us any reason why they rejected our departure.

Top Channel: You wife has not been allowed to travel outside Albania twice. Can you tell us what happened?

Al-Mashad: She was stopped on 10 September 2011 and one week from that, on 17 September. She wanted to continue the studies in Egypt, but police didn’t allow her. When I asked explanations from the authorities, they said that I had to address my request to the court. This is not right, since there is no reason to go at court. They didn’t send me to court when I was at Guantanamo, why should I go to the Albanian court now.

Top Channel: How did your arrest by the Americans took place in Afghanistan?

Al-Mashad: After the 911, only the presence of an Arab person on the Pakistan and Afghanistan roads was a sufficient reason for being arrested. We happened to be near an ambush at the villages near the Paki border. After I was sheltered in a family, they notified the Paki authorities that arrested me without making any resistance, in a very peaceful way, and then sent me at the Americans. I am very proud for my past in Afghanistan. It was about helping the Afghan people with food aids. I am proud for this and I’m not scared admitting it. As regards life in Guantanamo, there are no words to describe it. It was more like a laboratory, rather than a prison. They used all kinds of violence on us. It wasn’t a prison for people, but built on the way how they wanted it.

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