FREE HIM! WE DON'T WANT HIM...:

Guantanamo Prisoner Vexing German Authorities: The German government is preparing to plead for the release of Guantanamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz - yet their own intelligence service is concerned about his possible return to Bremen. (Der Spiegel, 1/10/06)

At Camp Delta, Guantanamo, Murat Kurnaz is seen as one of the less troublesome prisoners. Unlike some of his fellow inmates, he doesn't save his urine in dusty plastic bottles to throw over the guards. Nor has he taken part in the hunger strike that 84 of the prisoners are holding. The Turk from Bremen even assured a US military tribunal, "I hate terrorists. I've lost several years of my life because of Osama Bin Laden." He wants to give the German authorities any information voluntarily "to show that I don't support terrorism, so that I can sleep peacefully."

This good conduct has done little to help Kurnaz so far. The "Bremen Taliban" has been held prisoner at Guatanamo for four years and whereas almost all the other European terror suspects have been sent back to their homelands -- Britain, France or Sweden -- nothing seems to have moved in Kurnaz's case. That might be about to change. The German government is now making discreet moves together with the Turkish government for his release. [...]

Unlike the diplomats, the Federal Interior Ministry regards the Kurnaz problem as less a humanitarian one than one of security. When rumours resurfaced last October that his release was imminent, all German security officials were called upon to gather information that would ensure Kurnaz would be refused permission to enter Germany.

The list included details of Kurnaz's habit of using the word "Taliban" as the background logo in his mobile phone, along with quotes from Mohammed Haydar Zammar, the German-Syrian who is currently locked up in Damascus. During his interrogation Zammar, who also recruited the 9/11 pilots, described how he explained Jihad to "two Turks from Bremen" and referred them to the Taliban. One of the descriptions exactly matches that of Kurnaz. Presumably this statement, which remains confidential, is what lies behind the US accusation.

The Interior Ministry had already issued a refusal of entry for Kurnaz in May 2004 that is valid until May 11 2007. If Kurnaz is actually released and makes his way from Ankara to Germany he would be stopped at the border as "a danger to public safety and order" and put on the next flight back to Turkey.

What trivial people the Europeans have become.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 10, 2006 10:28 AM