A Protest by Professor Sattar Kassem: The Making of Al-Qaeda Member

The Americans committed two crimes against Ala’: first, they arrested him for no reason, and took away his passport; second, they didn’t abide by the court order and kept him in jail.

Courtesy: theteleportal.com

(NABLUS) - This is the story of my nephew who is alleged to be a member of al-Qaeda. If that is true, I accuse the Americans of pushing him toward al-Qaeda. How?

My nephew, Ala’ Abdu Raoof Tawfeeq Khader, who is carrying a Jordanian passport, left Jordan to Iraq on the 20th of Jan 2004 to resume his higher education in statistics in the University of Baghdad. He left Jordan legally, and entered Iraq legally.

The American army arrested him on Jan 25, 2004 in Baghdad and expropriated his passport. They either torn away his passport or lost it. Then they accused him of illegal entrance to Iraq. They imprisoned him.

He was brought to al-haritheyya court in Baghdad on May 25, 2006. The number of the law suit is 2/3008. He was unjustifiably sentenced for a couple of years for illegal entrance.

The Americans were supposed to release him immediately because he had spent more than two years in jail. Instead, they handed him to the Iraqi government on Aug 13, 2006. He was sent to Badoshe prison in Musel. The Iraqis gave him the opportunity to call his family in Jordan. He kept in touch with them.

In 2007, al-Qaeda attacked Badoshe prison and released 70 prisoners. My nephew was one of them. The family lost contact with him, and we just got to know about his whereabouts on March 16, 2011 when he appeared on al-Iraqiyya TV saying that he was serving al-Qaeda by carrying money from one place to another.

We are not sure if what he said on TV was true. Arab governments force prisoners to make confessions on TV. But if it is true, I accuse the Americans of pushing Ala’ to become al-Qaeda member. Now Ala’ is imprisoned in the department of Fighting Terrorism and Organized Crime in the ministry on interior in Baghdad. He is under interrogation, and probably they are accusing him of fleeing from jail.

The Americans committed two crimes against Ala’: first, they arrested him for no reason, and took away his passport; second, they didn’t abide by the court order and kept him in jail.

I faxed the White House twice asking the release of Ala’, one on Aug. 27, 2005, the other on Sep 2, 2005, but received no answer.

We want our son back.

Professor Sattar Kassem

Sattar Kassem is Professor of Political Science at Al Najah University in Nablus.

Source: Professor Sattar Kassem