From Taliban prisoner to Gitmo detainee

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Lawyers for one detainee in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo say he was held by the Taliban as a U.S. spy before being held as a suspected al-Qaida terrorist.

They claim that Abdul Rahim al Ginco was actually a college student in the United Arab Emirates who wanted to get away from his repressive father and made the mistake of running away to Afghanistan, The New York Times reports.

Stephen Sady, a public defender in Oregon, said a tape described by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as a suicide video was actually made by Ginco's torturers. Ashcroft showed part of the tape at a news conference after Ginco's arrest but most of it has not been made public.

"This was a 22-year-old kid who was brutally tortured," Sady, said. "And instead of being liberated, he has endured four and a half years of additional confinement."

Ginco was in a prison in Kandahar with four other foreigners when the Taliban fell. They were treated sympathetically by U.S. forces until several videotapes were found in the ruins of the home of Muhammad Atef, a reputed al-Qaida leader killed by an air strike.