Hunger strike takes toll on Guantanamo Bay inmate
COURTSFiling details claim on Guantanamo

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 29, 2008


In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, a U.S. Military guard passes a container of food to a Guantanamo detainee, at the Camp 4 detention facility at the U.S. Naval Base, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008.(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The health of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner on hunger strike for more than three years has deteriorated sharply, his lawyer said in legal papers seeking a medical examination.

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Ahmed Zuhair appears to weigh no more than 100 pounds, more than 35 pounds less than the military says he weighed in August, attorney Ramzi Kassem said in a motion filed Thursday in federal court in Washington.

Navy Cmdr. Pauline Storum, a spokeswoman for the Guantanamo detention center, said she could not immediately comment on Kassem’s allegations. She said the U.S. military is required to keep all detainees healthy and closely monitors those on hunger strike.

Zuhair has been on a hunger strike to protest his confinement since the summer of 2005. The military keeps him alive by force-feeding him liquid nutrients twice daily through a nasal tube. Kassem said his client is allergic to the liquid nutrient, causing him to vomit.

Zuhair has not been charged with a crime, but the U.S. says he trained with the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.


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