Saudis doubt nationals were suicides at camp Some doubt U.S. claim, say torture may have driven men to kill themselves

AP Associated Press
Updated: 4:30 p.m. CT June 11, 2006

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The reported suicides of two Saudi prisoners at Guantanamo Bay intensified Saudi anger at the camp, drawing questions Sunday about whether the men really killed themselves or were driven to it by torture.

The detention of more than 130 Saudis at the U.S. jail has long grated on people in the kingdom, and there was marked skepticism that the prisoners committed suicide.

“The families don’t believe it, and of course I don’t believe it either,” said Kateb al Shimri, a lawyer who represents relatives of Saudis held at Guantanamo.

“A crime was committed here and the U.S. authorities are responsible,” al Shimri said, echoing the general sentiment heard in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Al Shimri said he planned to sue the U.S. government for compensation on behalf of the relatives of the deceased.

The kingdom’s semiofficial human rights organization called for an independent investigation into the deaths of the two Saudis, who were identified Sunday by Saudi officials as Mani bin Shaman bin Turki al Habradi and Yasser Talal Abdullah Yahya al Zahrani.

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