Freed Briton tells of beatings and torture

A Briton released after more than two years at Guantanamo Bay today told of the beatings and psychological torture he faced at the hands of the American military.

Jamal al-Harith, a 37-yearold website designer, claims his captors forced the most devout Muslims to watch prostitutes and described vicious attacks by US soldiers that left him and other inmates black and blue.

He said inmates were not given access to clean water, being forced to drink water which was either murky and yellow or "black - the colour of Coca-Cola". He also claims they were fed meals that were up to 10 years past their sell-by date.

The Muslim convert, who is divorced and has three children, said that brutal camp guards known as the Extreme Reaction Force (ERF), who would shackle prisoners for up to 15 hours, would come into his cell in riot gear and rain blows on him with batons, fists and feet.

Prostitutes were brought into the camp and the ERF would pick out the most committed Muslims, some of whom had never seen an unveiled woman before, and force them to sit and watch her touching her naked body. Mr al-Harith claimed one had even smeared menstrual blood on a young inmate.

He said: "I knew of this happening about 10 times. It always seemed to be those who were very young or very religious-"I would joke with the other British lads 'Bring them to us - we'll have them.' It made us laugh. But the Americans obviously knew we wouldn't be shocked by seeing western women, so they didn't bother.

"It was a profoundly disturbing experience for these men. They would refuse to speak about what had happened. It would take perhaps four weeks for them to tell a friend - and we would shout it around the whole block."

He added: "The whole point of Guantanamo was to get to you psychologically. The beatings-were not nearly as bad as the psychological torture - bruises heal after a week, but the other stuff stays with you."

Mr al-Harith, who comes from the Moss Side district of Manchester, told the Daily Mirror he accidentally strayed into Afghanistan after going to Pakistan to study Islam.

He had asked a truck driver to take him to Turkey so he could get home, but when the driver used a route through Afghanistan he was captured by the Taliban who imprisoned him and accused him of being a British spy.

After US forces took the country the Red Cross offered him the chance to go home, but he had no money and stayed in the country trying to contact the British Embassy. Then the Americans arrested him and flew him to Cuba.

At Camp Delta his cell was a wire cage, exposed to the elements and to snakes and scorpions common in the area.