DOUGLAS FIELD relishes the hard-boiled language, satire and humour of the third and last of the Harlem trilogy
Latest editorial
Guantanamo Kid: The True Story of Mohammed El-Gharani
Obscenity of the US hell camp exposed in graphic story of a child's imprisonment
STEPHANIE BROWN draws attention to the hidden labour of the female embroiderers, and how a 19th century replica made no such error
MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
MOHAMMED EL-GHARANI, aged 14 and of Chadian parentage, went to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia in 2001 to learn English. Travelling on a Chadian passport with faked personal data facilitated by a sympathetic consular official — he was a minor — he stayed in Karachi with relatives.
His life was organised around English classes, football and prayers until one day, three months after 9/11, he was detained outside a mosque because of his Saudi accent. After a period of incarceration, interrogation and torture by Pakistani security officials he and dozens of others were each sold as “confirmed” terrorists to the US for $5,000.
Naively, El-Gharani believed that US officials would soon realise that he was innocent, release him and allow his return to Saudi Arabia. He had a rude awakening in store.
Similar stories
19.01.1930-23.04.2026
Kate Clark pays tribute to Ricardo, whose life spanned the hopes of Allende’s Chile, the horrors of military dictatorship and decades of campaigning for justice in exile
Groups are urging the US government to secure the 16-year old’s release as his mental and physical health decline dramatically after nine months inside Ofer prison, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
