Yemeni official: Gitmo inmate died of asphyxiation [View All]

Source: Associated Press

Yemeni official: Gitmo inmate died of asphyxiation
Posted 12m ago

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A Guantanamo detainee whose death has been blamed on suicide apparently died of asphyxiation, a Yemeni official said Saturday.
The preliminary conclusion, which suggests the prisoner strangled himself, offers the first details about the death of Mohammad Ahmed Abdullah Saleh Al Hanashi, who was found unresponsive inside a psychiatric ward.

The disclosure also raises questions about how a prisoner could have choked himself to death inside the closely watched ward.

"The Yemeni government is still awaiting the autopsy report and the investigation report, but for the time being we are sticking with the scenario the U.S. government has stated," Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the embassy in Washington, told the Associated Press. He said the apparent cause of death was revealed to Yemeni officials by the U.S. government.

U.S. officials have said publicly only that the death was an apparent suicide. A prison spokesman, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brook DeWalt, said Friday he could not comment on details of the death and officials did not respond to e-mailed requests for comment on Saturday.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-01-guantanamo_N.htm