Guantanamo Return for Iqbal

Two years after his release from the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Asif Iqbal (above) is going back – but this time by choice.

Mr Iqbal, from Tipton, near dudley, has travelled to Cuba as part of a 12- member delegation of peace activists and relatives of detainees to condemn alleged abuse at the US prison camp and demand it be closed.

“It doesn’t feel anything like Guantanamo now – I’m free,” the 25- year-old told a news conference in Havana last night.

The group, which includes American “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan, planned to fly to the Cuban city of Guantanamo last night and march outside the gates of the US base on Thursday.

It was unclear how close they would be able to get to the actual camp, where nearly 400 men are being held on suspicion of links to al Qaida or the Taliban.

Iqbal, who spent twoand- a-half years at the prison, said: “Until that place is closed down, I cannot forget what happened there.”

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