London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2025

‘US misled me into joining Mujahideen, then tortured me for Al-Qaeda past’: Gitmo survivor says US ‘acted like fascists’ post-9/11

‘US misled me into joining Mujahideen, then tortured me for Al-Qaeda past’: Gitmo survivor says US ‘acted like fascists’ post-9/11

A former Islamist fighter who went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and later got caught up in the US War on Terror – spending 14 years in the Guantanamo prison as a result – spoke to RT as part of the Unheard Voices project.

In the early 1990s, Mohamedou Ould Slahi had a romantic notion of pursuing a noble cause, wanting to risk his life for something greater than himself. He traveled from Germany to Afghanistan with plans to join the Mujahideen. At the time, the Afghan Islamists were hailed as heroic freedom fighters, a ‘David’ who had defeated the ‘Goliath’ of the mighty Soviet Union and was on its way to topple the communist government in Kabul.

“Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries, Germany, where I lived, supported Afghanistan. We used to watch movies. We used to watch news, documentaries about Afghanistan. And I decided to join the Mujahideen,” the former fighter recalled as he spoke to RT in Mauritania.


In reality, Afghanistan was engulfed in civil war, with various factions vying for resources and political power. The training camp where Slahi wound up was run by Al-Qaeda, founded just a few years prior by Osama Bin Laden, a son of a wealthy Saudi family who himself had joined and helped finance the US-backed – and armed – Mujahideen. Slahi said he had no idea he was pledging allegiance to an international terrorist organization.

“I was very young and I was very misinformed. This was a very big propaganda machine led by the US and its Western allies and Arab allies. They gave me a wrong picture,” he recalled.

"I thought it was a very good cause to free people and to establish a free country – I didn't even know then what a free country meant, to be honest."


Slahi's Afghan travels and a phone call from a cousin, an associate of Bin Laden, landed him firmly in the crosshairs of Western intelligence. He was investigated for possible terrorism connections when he lived in Canada, before returning home to Mauritania and, after 9/11, he was marked as a person of interest, whose rights were irrelevant to Washington's drive for vengeance.

Eventually, Mauritanian authorities gave up Slahi to the US despite his cooperation. The Americans flew him between several locations under the CIA's ‘extraordinary rendition’ program – which saw terror suspects shipped off to foreign states for brutal interrogations – had him tortured and finally locked him up at the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“I did confess to crimes I didn't do, because of torture,” he said.

"I was sleep-deprived; I was beaten till they broke my rib; I was not given food for very long periods of time; I was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions."

A drawing by Abu Zubaydah, another Guantanamo prisoner and terrorism suspect, depicts a CIA torture technique known as waterboarding, which simulates a sensation of drowning.


Slahi spent 14 years in jail without a trial before finally being released in 2016. His memoir, ‘Guantanamo Diary’ became an international bestseller a year earlier, when the US agreed to declassify it and allow its publication. A dramatization of this book was released earlier this year.

He said that while he used to believe the US is a country that respects the ‘rule of law,’ his experience in American custody was a rude awakening, noting that this had caused him further suffering.

"I understand the US is a democracy. But when it comes to Muslims, people of color – after 9/11 they did not respect the rule of law. It acted like a fascist regime."

Another drawing by Guantanamo prisoner Abu Zubaydah depicts an interrogation inside the US-run military prison.


RT interviewed Slahi in Mauritania, where he returned after regaining his freedom. He says he cannot travel internationally, because, as he believes, the US has pressured the African country to deny him a passport.

Slahi retold his story as part of a mini-documentary series ‘Unheard Voices,’ produced by RT in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the many people victimized as a direct consequence of the War on Terror that followed.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
×