MIAMI (AFP) — An Afghan suspect branded "an experienced jihadist" died of bowel cancer at the US prison camp for "war on terror" detainees in Guantanamo Bay, the military said Sunday.
Abdul Razzak, aged about 68, was pronounced dead on Sunday morning after receiving chemotherapy for cancer since October, a US military public affairs office in Miami said in a statement, giving the cause as colorectal cancer.
"Abdul Razzak was assessed to be an experienced jihadist with command responsibilities and was assessed to have had multiple links to anti-coalition forces," said the statement from the Miami base that oversees the camp in Cuba.
"He was detained in Guantanamo as an enemy combatant, consistent with the international law of armed conflict."
Razzak was born in 1939, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department.
His was the first confirmed case of death from natural causes at the prison. The deaths of three captives in 2006 and another this year are being investigated after initial findings of suicide.
Guantanamo is home to about 275 detainees seized in various countries during the US "war on terror" that was launched after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
It was not clear whether Razzak's remains would be sent back to Afghanistan, but the military said the Afghan government had been notified.
"A cultural advisor and Imam are ensuring that the remains are handled in a culturally and religiously appropriate manner," the military statement said.
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