JEDDAH, 3 May — Esam Hamdi, father of Yasser, a Saudi- American being held in a military jail in Virginia, has urged US authorities to release his son as quickly as possible as they have not found any evidence to charge him.
Hamdi, who holds a prestigious job in a private company in the Jubail Industrial City, requested the intervention of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to secure his son’s release.
"No charge has been made against Yasser so far. And as per American law, those who are held for 48 hours without any charge should be released," he told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.
Asked whether he wished to convey any message to US officials, Hamdi said: "I can say that the situation of my son is known as a run-away kid. They are adolescents who run away on their own due to various reasons. These young men and women create problems for themselves which could be tackled."
"I request the US government to release my son Yasser in the light of my strong conviction that he did not involve in any illegal activity and there are no charges against him," Hamdi told the daily.
Hamdi has also met with Prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs, along with his father and brother.
"The prince understood our situation and we felt tremendous relief after meeting him," he said.
Hamdi had also contacted the Saudi Embassy in Washington in his efforts to secure his son’s release.
He disclosed that Yasser went to Afghanistan before the Sept. 11 attacks. He was taken to the Guantanamo Bay and then to Virginia.
Asked how he came to know that his son had traveled to Pakistan, Hamdi said: "At 3 p.m. on July 15 last year we received a phone call informing us that Yasser was at the airport to travel abroad and the man who called hung up the phone without giving details. Later I came to know that he had gone to Pakistan via Bahrain. I also knew that he managed to get a new passport. He did all this without my knowledge or approval."
Yasser later contacted his uncle in Jeddah and told him that he would volunteer his services for relief work in areas like Pakistan and Afghanistan during summer. Hamdi’s brother and Yasser’s uncle had gone to Pakistan and contacted the Saudi Embassy there to look for Yasser, who was then in Afghanistan.
"It was very difficult to go to Afghanistan even before Sept. 11 and all their efforts failed." Asked why he himself did not try to go to Afghanistan to bring Yasser back, Hamdi said: "Because Yasser will be afraid of seeing me and he may refuse to meet with me."
Answering a question about Yasser’s character, he said Yasser is a committed Muslim and practiced all religious duties perfectly and established good contacts with relatives. "I did not find in him any religious extremism. He was always joyful and happy and wanted to be among his family and our relatives," he pointed out.
"I did not find any suspicious behavior before his journey to Pakistan. I was surprised when I learned that he had gone to Pakistan, because he was afraid of traveling alone and mixing with others. He has never traveled abroad alone," he added. He said he came to know about Yasser’s arrest in Afghanistan from the media. "Four weeks ago I saw him on television and confirmed he is my son."
Yasser had contacted his mother once and told her that he was intending to come back to the Kingdom. He did not want to continue in Afghanistan because of ideological differences, Hamdi said.
Hamdi thanked God for keeping his son alive. In his message to his son, he said: "This is a lesson for you. But me, your mother and members of the family and relatives are anxiously waiting for your return. We will stand by you until you overcome this crisis."
Talking about Yasser’s mother, he said: "His mother is a strong believer and she believes that this is a test from God for all of us on our acceptance of His fate and decree. This is a destiny and we have to bear with it." Yasser was born in Baton Rouge, Lousiana while the Hamdis were staying in the United States. "We stayed there for about five years after my graduation from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. Yasser was three years old when we left the US," he said.
Yasser was brought up in Jubail where he completed his secondary education before moving to King Fahd University in Dhahran. "He received university admission easily as he had secured 93 percent marks in the secondary school.
Dr. Najeeb Al-Naeemi, the lawyer of Yasser in Qatar, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Yasser’s legal situation was much better than other Guantanamo prisoners. "He will be tried according to American civil justice, not military justice. He will have the right to defense, to appoint lawyers and not to answer questions of investigators."
"The present situation provides him full right of self-defense. He will not face any military trial," said Naeemi, a former Qatari justice minister. He also pointed out that Yasser was held while he was not in combat position. "The public prosecutor does not have enough evidences to convict Yasser and level charges like treason, fighting the government or siding with the enemy during the war," he added.
Naeemi said 16 lawyers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the US, Qatar and France were following up the cases of Yasser and other Guantanamo prisoners.
