Former Guantanamo Bay detainee plans hunger strike

By Senabri Silvestre

SANTO DOMINGO, Dom. Rep. (AA) – A former Guantanamo Bay detainee who is now in Uruguay, says he will go on a hunger strike to force a reunion with his family in another country, local authorities said Thursday.

Jihad Ahmad Diyab, who was released from the prison facility and resettled in Uruguay in December 2014 “has this idea”, the Uruguay’s government liaison responsible for Guantanamo refugees Christian Mirza told The Associated Press.

The Syrian native has health problems caused by previous hunger strikes and forced feeding while at Guantanamo Bay. He went missing earlier this year before turning up in Venezuela and was returned to Uruguay on Tuesday.

In Venezuela, he also expressed his intention to travel to Turkey or another country to join his family.

Diyab and the five other former prisoners -- three Syrians, one Tunisian and a Palestinian -- were refugees in Uruguay after being held without formal charges for suspected ties to al Qaeda for more than a decade at the prison facility in Cuba.

They struggled to find employment and adjust to their new lives in a new country after release.

The Guantanamo Bay prison was opened shortly after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The first terrorism suspects were detained and taken to the prison Jan. 11, 2002, under order of the then U.S. President George W. Bush.

President Barack Obama promised to shut down the controversial prison since taking office in 2009 but has been met with stiff opposition in Congress.

He has, however, accelerated the pace of getting detainees transferred to third part countries as his term comes to an end.