Moazzam Begg

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Moazzam Begg  born in 1968 in Sparkhill Birmingham England is a British Pakistani Muslim who was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba by the US government for nearly three years The Pentagon claimed Begg was an enemy combatant and alQaeda member recruited others for alQaeda provided money and support to alQaeda training camps received extensive military training in alQaedarun terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and prepared to fight US or allied troops  While Begg admits spending time at two Islamic militant training camps in Afghanistan supporting militant Muslim fighters buying a rifle and a handgun that he thought about taking up arms in Chechnya and being an acquaintance of people linked to terrorism most notably Khalil alDeek Dhiren Barot and Shahid Akram Butt he denies the remainder of the USs allegations Begg says that when he was incarcerated at Bagram though not in Guantanamo Bay to which he was later moved he was hogtied kicked punched and left in a room with a bag put over his head even though he suffered from asthma A Pentagon spokesman said there was no credible evidence that Begg was ever abused by US forces Begg has also spoken of having witnessed two other detainees being beaten to death while detained at Bagram Officials concluded the men were murdered and an investigation was conducted  After intensive discussions with the UK government President Bush had him released without charge on 25 January 2005 Bush released Begg over the objections of the Pentagon the CIA and the FBI who were concerned that Begg could still be a dangerous terrorist  In November 2010 the British Government announced that it had reached a financial settlement out of court with a number of individuals including Begg who accused British officials of complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while in the custody of the United States After his release he became a commentator on radio and television on issues pertaining to the UK Muslim community and UK and worldwide antiterror measures and toured as a speaker about his time in Guantanamo and other detention facilities Referring to 2010 Afghanistan he said he completely supported the inalienable right of the people to fight foreign occupation  He has also coauthored a book and authored broadsheet and magazine pieces  In 2010 Gita Sahgal then the head of Amnesty Internationals gender unit publicly condemned her organization for its collaboration with Begg calling it a gross error of judgment Description above from the Wikipedia article Moazzam Begg licensed under CCBYSAfull list of contributors on Wikipedia