Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair
Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 Saudi Arabia |
| Occupation | Former detainee at Guantanamo Bay detention facility |
| Known for | Longest hunger strike at Guantanamo; detainee repatriated to Saudi Arabia in 2009 |
Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair (born 1965) is a Saudi national who was previously held without formal charges at the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
Reports on August 13, 2008, indicated that Zuhair had been engaged in a hunger strike since June 2005. Notably, two other detainees who had also been on prolonged hunger strikes died under unclear circumstances in June 2006. On March 18, 2009, camp officials declined to transfer Zuhair from Camp 6 to Camp 4 as part of negotiations to end his hunger strike.
In December 2008, an Administrative Review Board authorized Zuhair’s release. Later, on May 22, 2009, the Inter-Agency Review process initiated by President Obama again approved his transfer. Zuhair was subsequently returned to Saudi Arabia on June 12, 2009.
Habeas corpus petition
Zuhair’s repatriation occurred just before the Department of Justice was scheduled to defend his continued detention during the habeas corpus review process. His legal representatives submitted a comprehensive rebuttal challenging the government's claims, arguing that the case primarily depended on unverified raw intelligence and statements obtained through torture, which they asserted should be inadmissible.
They pointed out that many critical intelligence reports used to justify his detention included disclaimers indicating they were "not finally evaluated intelligence," serving merely as investigative leads rather than concrete proof. Although much of the torture-related evidence remains classified, Zuhair’s lawyers presented an unclassified affidavit from Sa'd Iqbal Madani, himself a victim of rendition and torture, who admitted making false accusations under coercion linking Zuhair to the USS Cole bombing. Other detainees held at Bagram corroborated Madani’s account of torture.
The defense also stressed that despite thorough investigations into the killing of William Jefferson conducted by Bosnian police, the United Nations, and the FBI, Zuhair was never formally charged or identified as a suspect. Bosnian officials issued an arrest warrant for another individual, Fa'iz al-Shanbari, in connection with this murder. The extensive UN inquiry made no mention of Zuhair.
His attorneys summarized their position:
More than thirteen years have passed since William Jefferson’s murder in a country accessible to U.S. investigators; yet Ahmed Zuhair has spent over half that period detained by American authorities without any formal charges from any jurisdiction.
Hunger strike
In May 2008, Gulf News reported that Zuhair and Abdul Rahman Shalabi remained the last detainees continuing the hunger strike initiated in August 2005.
On October 25, 2008, the Associated Press disclosed court records describing guards’ repeated attempts to force-feed Zuhair. These efforts involved using pepper spray, shackles, and physical restraint to administer nasal tube feedings twice daily.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo guard commander Colonel Bruce Vargo defended these measures by citing Zuhair’s extensive disciplinary record and aggressive conduct.
Attorney Ramzi Kassem submitted an affidavit noting that between August and October 2008, Zuhair lost more than 16 kilograms, dropping below 45 kilograms in weight. Kassem described how Zuhair suffered uncontrollable vomiting due to allergies to the nutritional liquid and appeared emaciated.
Joint Task Force spokesperson Pauline Storum stated that detainees’ medical conditions were under close supervision. Following this, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered an independent medical evaluation of Zuhair.
On March 17, 2009, Associated Press reporter Ben Fox cited Colonel Vargo’s testimony explaining why camp officials refused to transfer Zuhair to Camp 4: doing so would encourage other Camp 6 prisoners to demand similar moves. Vargo noted Zuhair had committed eighty infractions within four months and required riot squad intervention during feeding procedures. His weight had decreased from 137 pounds in August 2008 to 114 pounds by March 2009.
After Zuhair’s return to Saudi Arabia on June 12, 2009, journalist Carol Rosenberg reported that he had sustained Guantanamo’s longest hunger strike—lasting approximately 1,450 days.
Death threats
On July 18, 2008, Zuhair notified his legal representatives that guards at Guantanamo had conducted a search of his cell, seized correspondence with his attorneys, and issued threats to kill him unless he withdrew his habeas petition. This prompted Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to mandate that the guards provide sworn statements addressing these claims, marking the inaugural judicial intervention of this nature in a Guantanamo case.
Repatriation
On June 12, 2009, Zuhair, along with two other Saudi nationals, Abdelaziz Kareem Salim al-Noofayee and Khalid Saad Mohammed, was returned to Saudi Arabia. According to Fox News, Zuhair was linked to the killing of an American. Upon their arrival, Saudi security personnel permitted the detainees to reunite briefly with their families before moving them to a confidential location for questioning. They subsequently joined the Saudi rehabilitation program aimed at jihadists, a path followed by many repatriated detainees despite some former participants resuming militant activities.
Admission of insufficient evidence
During a Senate Judiciary Committee session held on June 17, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder conceded that both U.S. administrations had approved Zuhair’s transfer because there was "no sufficient proof to bring a case" against him.