Gitmo chief: Al-Jazeera detainee is fine

The commander of detention operations at Guantanamo Bay denied reports that the physical and mental health of a detained Al-Jazeera cameraman is deteriorating.

A defense attorney earlier this week said Sami al-Hajj, one of the highest-profile detainees at the U.S. naval base in southeastern Cuba, has lost 40 pounds since late last year and developed intestinal problems. Al-Hajj has been on hunger strike, lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said.

But in an e-mail sent late Friday to The Associated Press, U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby said al-Hajj is actually 20 pounds heavier than when he arrived at the U.S. military prison in June 2002.

"Contrary to allegations, there have been no indications that he developed intestinal problems and no indications that his mental health has recently deteriorated," Buzby said.

Buzby insisted al-Hajj is currently at "102 percent of his ideal body weight" and is seen by medical personnel daily at Guantanamo Bay, where the U.S. holds about 355 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.

Al-Hajj was first reported to be on hunger strike in early January by his network's Arabic-language Web site, which said he may be suffering from various health problems. Buzby did not disclose al-Hajj's weight or confirm that he is one of the hunger strikers.

In recent months, the number of hunger strikers at Guantanamo has grown to about two dozen. Long-term hunger strikers are force-fed by the military.

Stafford Smith did not immediately respond to calls for comment on Buzby's letter.

The U.S. military first publicly acknowledged holding al-Hajj in April 2006, when it released a list of Guantanamo detainees in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the AP.

Al-Hajj was detained by Pakistani forces in December 2001 while attempting to cross the border into Afghanistan to cover the U.S.-led offensive against the Taliban. He was turned over to U.S. forces and taken six months later to Guantanamo.

The U.S. military says that in the 1990s, al-Hajj was an executive assistant at a Qatar-based drink company that provided support to Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya. The U.S. says he also traveled to Azerbaijan to carry money on behalf of his employer to the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a now defunct charity that authorities say funded militant groups.

It was also during this period that he allegedly "met" Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a senior lieutenant to Osama bin Laden who was arrested in Germany in 1998 and extradited to the United States.

International human rights and press freedom groups have condemned al-Hajj's imprisonment.