FORMER CIA CAPTIVE WANTS TO SPEAK AT GITMO

MIAMI The first CIA captive subjected to what the U.S. government called “enhanced interrogation techniques” after the Sept. 11 attacks is choosing to testify about conditions inside the Guantanamo Bay detention centre even if it could create legal problems for him later.

The lawyer for the Palestinian known as Zayne Abu Zubaydah says in a letter released Thursday that his client wants to testify at the U.S. base in Cuba next week despite the legal risk because he believes he is innocent, wants a chance to address the public and doesn’t think he would ever be charged.

“Abu Zubaydah will take the stand, unafraid of the truth that will emerge, confident that the world will come to know that he has committed no crimes,” lawyer Mark Denbeaux wrote in the letter sent to James Harrington, a civilian lawyer appointed to represent Ramzi Binalshibh, one of five Guantanamo prisoners facing trial by military commission for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support for the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Binalshibh has accused guards of causing noises and vibrations intended to disrupt his sleep and making it difficult for him to participate in his legal case, which remains bogged down in pretrial proceedings.