Yemeni Gitmo detainee says faced assassination plots

CUBA, Aug 01 (Saba) - A Yemeni
Guantanamo detainee has claimed that he faced assassination plots in his cell. Abdu
al-Salam
al-Hilah, 41, who was held in Egypt in Sept 2002, told his family in the first phone
conversation after the deaths of his brother, mother and sons that his attempted
assassination
came shortly after the deaths of his sons in April this year. The deaths did not
weaken me, but rather they helped me collect myself and stand up for hardship at
Gauntanamo,
he said, calling on his family not to believe he may commit suicide. 100 of the
remaining detainees at the US detention in Cuba are Yemeni nationals who the Yemeni
government
urges be sent home. Earlier this year, the US revealed a plan to send some or all of
the Yemeni detainees to Saudi Arabia, praising the kingdom's rehabilitation centers
and
programs. Yemen has resisted the move, saying it is better that its nationals come
home and pledging effective rehabilitation programs and centers. Earlier the US said
that
the Yemenis at the US detention posed a major obstacle for closing the prison as
President Obama ordered as early as June net year. FR