Guantanamo prisoner fights plan to send him to Bosnia
SAN JUAN - A Guantanamo prisoner who has been cleared for release by a US judge was fighting yesterday against what his lawyers said was an apparent plan to send him to Bosnia, where he would probably be deported to his native Algeria and imprisoned.
Saber Lahmar said the International Committee of the Red Cross told him the United States would soon transfer him from the American base in Cuba to Bosnia despite concerns about what may happen upon arrival, said Stephen Oleskey, one of his lawyers. Because the diplomatic efforts on behalf of Guantanamo prisoners are secret, it was impossible to confirm the account.
His lawyers say the prisoner is distraught and they have made a last-minute appeal to the State Department to halt the supposed transfer. Oleskey said he believes his client may be among several prisoners expected to be released in coming days.
“We all want to see Guantanamo closed and emptied out, but nobody should be sent to a place where they could be harmed,’’ said Oleskey, a partner with the Boston-based law firm WilmerHale. Lawyers from the firm won a ruling in November that called for the release of Lahmar and four other Algerians. The lawyers worked for years on their behalf, representing them pro bono.
Lahmar, 40, is one of six Algerians detained in Bosnia in 2001 on suspicion of plotting to bomb the US Embassy in Sarajevo. A judge ordered five of them released for lack of evidence. Lahmar has been held back while authorities try to find a country that will accept him.
