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BBC’s Alan Johnston thanks detained Al-Jazeera cameraman

BBC Monitoring

Text of report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 4 October

A BBC reporter kidnapped and held captive in the Gaza Strip for nearly four months this year is expressing his support for Al-Jazeera cameraman Sami al-Haj, who has been held for more than five years without charge at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a personal letter addressed to al-Haj, a copy of which was provided to CPJ today, Alan Johnston said he supports the cameraman's effort to be brought to trial to answer any allegations. "In the light of my own experience of incarceration I am aware of how hard it must be for you and your family to endure your detention, and I very much hope that your case might be resolved soon," Johnston wrote. "I understand that after some five years in Guantanamo you are calling to be allowed to answer any allegations that are being made against you. And of course I would always support any prisoner's right to a fair trial."

Al-Haj had expressed support for Johnston earlier this year, issuing a statement th! rough his lawyer that called for militants to release of the BBC journalist. Johnston, the BBC's Gaza correspondent, was seized 12 March by four armed men in a white Subaru as he drove near the BBC's Gaza City office on Al-Wihdah Street. He was freed after nearly four months, following widespread calls for his release.

Al-Haj had urged Johnston's kidnappers that as "brothers in one faith, consider this gift that I request of you: That you release Alan Johnson as soon as possible, without conditions. While the United States has kidnapped me and held me for years on end, this is not a lesson that Muslims should copy."

In his letter, Johnston thanked al-Haj for the statement. "In the weeks since my release I have done my best to express my gratitude to many of those colleagues who took the time to voice their support for me, and I am writing this letter now to say thank you to you," Johnston wrote. "I was particularly grateful for your contribution given your own ! very difficult circumstances."

Al-Haj, the only known journalist imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, was detained by Pakistani authorities at the Pakistan-Afghan border on 15 December 2001, while covering the US-led fight to oust the Taleban. He was transferred to US custody and then transported to Guantanamo in June 2002, where he has remained without charge. US military authorities have made vague accusations that al-Haj worked as a financial courier for armed groups and assisted Al-Qa'idah and extremist figures. Al-Haj's attorney, Clive Stafford Smith, has called the accusations baseless and contends that US interrogators focused almost exclusively on obtaining intelligence on Al-Jazeera and its staff. At one point, he said, military officials told al-Haj that he would be released if he agreed to inform US intelligence authorities about the satellite network's activities. Al-Haj refused, he said.

Al-Haj, who has staged a hunger strike, is said to be in declining physical and mental health. He has lost nearly 40 pounds, suffers from in! testinal and other ailments, and his mental health is deteriorating, according to his lawyer. Last month, US and British medical experts who reviewed some of al-Haj's recent conversations described the journalist as being in a deteriorated mental state, severely depressed, and "passively suicidal".

Al-Haj has demanded that he be set free or given a fair trial in a US civilian court. For background on the al-Haj case, read CPJ's 2006 special report, "The Enemy? "

The full text of Johnston's letter follows:

Dear Mr Al Haj,

While I was kidnapped recently in the Gaza Strip fellow journalists from around the world joined the campaign mounted to try to secure my release, and of course you were among them. In the weeks since my release I have done my best to express my gratitude to many of those colleagues who took the time to voice their support for me, and I am writing this letter now to say thank you to you. I was particularly grate! ful for your contribution given your own very difficult circumstances.

In the light of my own experience of incarceration I am aware of how hard it must be for you and your family to endure your detention, and I very much hope that your case might be resolved soon. I understand that after some five years in Guantanamo you are calling to be allowed to answer any allegations that are being made against you. And of course I would always support any prisoner's right to a fair trial.

Once again, thank you very much indeed for the appeal that you made on my behalf. I was in serious trouble at the time, and I appreciate that you did what you could to help.

Yours,

Alan Johnston

Former BBC Gaza correspondent

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, New York, in English 4 Oct 07

 

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