This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000183 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/FO, NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD (RSMITH), S/WCI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO PREL PGOV BA CTR BILAT
SUBJECT: Bahrain Guantanamo Media Update: "They promised us 
Corn Flakes" 
 
Ref (A): 05 Manama 1742 (B): 05 Manama 1553  (C): 05 Manama 
 
¶1547. (D): 06 Manama 0117 
 
¶1. Summary:  Bahrain's newest Arabic daily recently 
completed a six-part series of exclusive interviews with 
former Guantanamo detainee Adel Kamel Abdulla Al Haji, who 
was returned from Guantanamo along with two other detainees 
in November.  The exposes have given the greatest space and 
detail so far to a story that just won't die, rehashing 
previously heard claims of torture, sexual humiliation, 
psychological games, desecration of the Quran, and (this is 
new) most recently an apparent denial of promised corn 
flakes by American soldiers.  What is perhaps most 
significant about the series is its narrative quality, which 
casts Americans always as evil conspirators using every 
tactic at hand to break the spirit of a noble group of 
resistant detainees.  Meanwhile, appearing in the Arabic 
daily Akhbar Al Khalij and English sister paper Gulf Daily 
News, a continuing stream of dispatches from the lawyer of 
current detainee Juma Al-Dossari and two other Bahraini 
detainees who remain at Guantanamo, have described detainees 
in failing health, and an apparent 14th suicide attempt by 
Dossari in January. In contrast to the firestorm of public 
criticism by government and human rights leaders that 
followed Dossari's claims last fall, the recent spate of 
stories since the return of three detainees have generated 
surprisingly little commentary or discussion. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  Since it first published in November, Al-Watan has 
positioned itself as a Salafi-bent and highly critical of 
America's role in the war on terror and its relationship 
with Bahrain, portraying U.S. support for democracy programs 
like National Democratic Institute, as meddlesome and 
conspiratorial. 
 
¶3.  Similarly, the six-part series on Kamel's odyssey tends 
to portray the United States Global War on Terror - from the 
battlefield of Afghanistan to the confines of Guantanamo - 
as a good versus evil battle, with America's enemies as the 
heroes. In his story, America uses trickery, sex and 
firepower against outgunned civilians and holy warriors. 
 
U.S. Air Power "Destroys Entire Villages" 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  In part one, the Muharraq-born Kamel, now 41, leaves his 
job with the Bahrain Defense Force in October 2001 to travel 
to Afghanistan via Iran.  Apparently moved by the plight of 
Afghanistan's people, Kamel went for the purpose of 
"providing humanitarian assistance to victims of these 
attacks."  Although surprisingly vague about his own 
activities in Afghanistan, Kamel repeats the allegation that 
he and many other Arabs were haphazardly rounded up by 
Pakistanis and sold to the Americans for financial reward. 
He describes entire villages suspected of supporting the 
Taliban destroyed by U.S. air attacks. 
 
¶5.  Part two is about Kamel's captivity in Kandahar, where 
he alleges he was tortured by electric shocks and kept in 
solitary confinement, deprived of food for days and finally 
transferred to Guantanamo Bay. 
 
Alleged Desecration of the Quran 
-------------------------------- 
¶6.  Kamel meticulously describes a campaign of physical and 
psychological torture under American detention, intended, he 
says, to "test the bounds of human endurance" and to break 
down a stubborn and proud group of captives.  Kamel repeats 
previously alleged stories about U.S. soldiers desecrating 
the Quran, in one instance a soldier asking "Is this your 
holy book?" before kicking it across the room.  After the 
alleged desecration of the Quran, Kamel says detainees 
launched a hunger strike, during which they were beaten and 
force fed by the Americans.  Kamel also said soldiers would 
turn on loud music in an effort to distract detainees during 
prayer times. 
 
Camp X-Ray: "A Psychological Laboratory Experiment" 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  Kamel also claims that "even medical services were part 
of the daily torture," that psychologists and other medical 
staff collaborated, misdiagnosed health and psychological 
conditions, and prescribed medication that often made 
detainees sicker, or left them in a state of decreased 
mental alertness: "all a strategy to torture us and break us 
down." Detainees often refused medication, he claimed. 
 
¶8.  At one point, he claims rumors were spread by prison 
administrators that detainees had attempted suicide, an 
effort he ascribed to an attempt "to cover themselves in 
case one died from torture."  This is notable and appears an 
attempt to bolster a bizarre claim made by Dossari's family 
that an apparent suicide attempt (described by Dossari's 
lawyer in a December story in the Washington Post) was 
actually faked to cover an attempt to murder him. 
 
¶9. Kamel also repeats allegations previously made by Juma Al- 
Dossari that detainees were offered sex in exchange for 
cooperation and subjected to female interrogators who 
stripped during interrogations.  Kamel said eventually the 
Americans gave up in their attempt to break the spirit of 
the detainees and began to improve conditions and allow them 
to see attorneys and file complaints. 
 
¶10. Kamel claims he was more recently interrogated about 
Bahrain's political situation and asked about his 
relationship with political societies and whether he had 
been politically active in Bahrain. This is a new assertion 
and is an interesting twist in light of Al-Watan's recent 
slanted-focus on NDI's activities in training political 
societies in Bahrain. He claims he was shown photos of 
individuals to comment on, but refused to look at them. 
 
¶11.  Part six, appearing February 7, wraps up with Kamel's 
return to Bahrain, emotional reunion with his family, and 
then strangely returns to some "highlights from Camp X-Ray," 
including an allegation that soldiers threw away or consumed 
about half of each meal given to detainees, including some 
of the best parts: the yogurt, toast and eggs, and finally 
that prison officials at one point promised detainees corn 
flakes three times a week, but were disappointed when the 
corn flakes were eaten by soldiers. 
 
 
MONROE