Reply #45: From Al Jazeera: Al-Hajj 'suffering from depression'

[Judi Lynn]

Al-Hajj 'suffering from depression'

Two leading psychiatrists say Sami al-Hajj, the Al Jazeera cameraman held in the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, is suffering from severe depression and could be close to death.

The British and American psychiatrists said in a letter that al-Hajj, who has been on hunger strike for 247 days, could be suffering from a form of depression known as "passive suicide", where an individual loses the will to live.

Psychiatrists Hugh Richards from Britain and D L Crisson from the US warned on Tuesday that if al-Hajj remained in the camp, his life could be in danger.

Clive Stafford-Smith, al Hajj's lawyer, told Al Jazeera: "I'm incredibly worried about him.
"Last time I saw him ... he was talking about death."

'Immediate treatment'

Al-Hajj, originally from Sudan, was arrested in Pakistan in December 2001 on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border by Pakistani intelligence and was handed to the US military in January 2002.

More:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AE290F88-4501-4E8C-825B-B264DF7B7218.htm