Captives told to claim torture - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - May 31, 2005: " In a raid on an al Qaeda cell in Manchester, British authorities seized al Qaeda's most extensive manual for how to wage war.
A directive lists one mission as 'spreading rumors and writing statements that instigate people against the enemy.'
If captured, the manual states, 'At the beginning of the trial ... the brothers must insist on proving that torture was inflicted on them by state security before the judge. Complain of mistreatment while in prison.'
The handbook instructs commanders to make sure operatives, or 'brothers,' understand what to say if captured.
'Prior to executing an operation, the commander should instruct his soldiers on what to say if they are captured,' the document says. 'He should explain that more than once in order to ensure that they have assimilated it. They should, in turn, explain it back to the commander.'
An example might have occurred in a Northern Virginia courtroom in February.
Ahmed Omar Abul Ali, accused of planning to assassinate President Bush, made an appearance in U.S. District Court and promptly told the judge that he had been tortured in Saudi Arabia, including a claim that his back had been whipped. He is accused of meeting there with a senior al Qaeda leader.
Days later, a U.S. attorney filed a court document saying physicians had examined Ali and 'found no evidence of any physical mistreatment on the defendant's back or any other part of his body.'
Larry Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said two Guantanamo commanders told him that al Qaeda detainees are experts in circulating false charges among the more than 500 fighters captured in Afghanistan. "
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