Terry Holdbrooks

Terry Holdbrooks
Born	Template:1983, July 7th Phoenix, Arizona
Nationality	USA
Other names	Mustafa Abdullah
Occupation	Writer
Known for	Converting to Islam while working as a guard in Guantanamo

Terry Holdbrooks is a former American soldier, and a convert to Islam.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Holdbrooks was a guard at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba, in 2003 and 2004. It was there that he converted to Islam. Holdbrooks is now a critic of the camp.

Holdbrooks attributes some of the people who were most helpful with his conversion to three United Kingdom captives in Guantanamo -- friends from Tipton often referred to as the "Tipton three".^[1] The mentor who accepted his conversion was an older man, Ahmed Errachidi, a Moroccan chef, who had lived and worked in the UK.^[6]

In March 2009 Holdbrooks was interviewed by Toronto Star reporter Michelle Shephard, the author of Guantanamo's Child, a book about Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr, who was a minor when he was captured and sent to Guantanamo.^[5] According to Shaphard, Holdbrooks's recent decision to voice his criticisms of the camp in general, and Khadr's detention specifically, was both "personal and political". Holdbrooks said Khadr "was young, you could still feel that teenaged angst in him." He described Khadr as someone who was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

In 2009 Holdbrooks had been invited to speak, in the United Kingdom, by the human rights group Reprieve, as part of its efforts to support the human rights of present and former captives at the camp.^[2][3] However UK immigration authorities initially did not allow him entry into the United Kingdom, and he was detained, but ultimately traveled on.

UK immigration officials defended barring Holdbrooks from the UK because he was unemployed, and thus did not meet the usual standard for admission.^[2][3] Clive Stafford Smith, Repreive's director, called the deportation "vindictive".

Holdbrooks has written a book, entitled "Traitor", to be published in the Summer of 2010.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Edward Chadwick (2010-10-09). "How Tipton Talliban inspired Guantanamo Bay guard to become a Muslim". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sundaymercury.net%2Fnews%2Fmidlands-news%2F2009%2F10%2F11%2Fhow-tipton-talliban-inspired-guantanamo-bay-guard-to-become-a-muslim-66331-24899441%2F&date=2010-02-23. "A FORMER Guantanamo Bay guard has revealed how he turned from a beer-swilling American soldier into a devout Muslim after being inspired by the Midland men dubbed the Tipton Taliban." 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "UK Arrests Gitmo Guard". Islam Online. 2009-09-01. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2Fservlet%2FSatellite%3Fc%3DArticle_C%26pagename%3DZone-English-News%2FNWELayout%26cid%3D1251021297132&date=2010-02-23. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Rebekah Nahai (2009-09-04). "Former Guantanamo guard deported by UK immigration". Global Visas. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.globalvisas.com%2Fnews%2Fformer_guantanamo_guard_deported_by_uk_immigration1576.html&date=2010-02-23. "UK immigration officials refused entry to a former Guantanamo Bay guard yesterday at Heathrow with intentions to deport him back to the US this morning." 
4. ^ "UK denies entry to former Guantanamo guard". Press TV. 2009-09-01. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.presstv.ir%2Fdetail.aspx%3Fid%3D104975%26sectionid%3D351020601&date=2010-02-23. "Holdbrooks, who left the US military in 2005, became an outspoken critic of the US government over the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo." 
5. ^ ^{a b} Michelle Shephard (2009-03-09). "Ex-guard speaks out in support of Khadr". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2FNews%2FWorld%2Farticle%2F599324&date=2010-02-23. "Terry Holdbrooks was one of those soldiers, and one of the detainees he met soon after arriving in 2003 was Canadian Omar Khadr. Both teens – the American guard, 19, and the Canadian captive, 16 – talked easily about life." 
6. ^ ^{a b} Dan Ephron (2009-03-21). "The Guard Who Found Islam". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fid%2F190357&date=2010-02-23. "He developed a strong relationship with the General, whose real name is Ahmed Errachidi. Their late-night conversations led Holdbrooks to be more skeptical about the prison, he says, and made him think harder about his own life. Soon, Holdbrooks was ordering books on Arabic and Islam. During an evening talk with Errachidi in early 2004, the conversation turned to the shahada, the one-line statement of faith that marks the single requirement for converting to Islam ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet"). Holdbrooks pushed a pen and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantánamo's Camp Delta, became a Muslim." 

Persondata
Name	Holdbrooks, Terry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1983
Place of birth	Phoenix, Arizona
Date of death
Place of death