They're cheap, easy to buy anywhere in the world and, apparently, are the hallmark of a terrorist: a digital Casio wristwatch -- strictly speaking, the black F-91W model or its silver variant,
the A-159W. The first is to recoil.
The watch is singled out in the classified reports on Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainees, noting that simply wearing one was tantamount to an admission of guilt.The digital watch was amongst personal items
For instance, some detainees were arrested and held for years in part because they wore a cheap brand of digital watch, the Casio F-91W. But why wasn't anyone outraged over this Casio connection
earlier.washingtonpost.In one document, titled "Matrix of Threat Indicators for Enemy Combatants" -- a field guide of recognition and classification of "enemy combatants" -- various items are
listed to help interrogators assess a prisoner's capabilities and intentions.
The reason, the BBC explains is that these Casios are bestsellers is that they "retail for as little as £7 ($12), are water resistant and have a battery life of approximately seven years. It is
not clear how the detainees deciding on digital LED watches .
In the field guide, special attention is given to the items a suspect had in his possession at the time of his arrest.S. terror prison in Cuba.
The footnotes of the document explain that the Joint Task Force identifies the watch as "the sign of al-Qaida, (which) uses the watch to make bombs.
What we still lack after so many years is a fully developed legal framework to handle the arrest, detention and trial of terror suspects.'" The piece went on to quote a number of detainees
speaking about the Casio:
Detainee 651, Usama Hassan Ahmend Abu Kabir: I have a Casio watch due to the fact that they are inexpensive and they last a long time.In the documents on individual inmates, the possession of the
Casio watch would be listed in item 5.b as "property held. also has a story.
The documents show most of the 172 prisoners remaining at Guantanamo are deemed to be “high risk,” as were about a third of the 600 detainees already released, the Times says.guardian. Beyond the
fact that it diminishes those administering it, the information it gleans does not prove trustworthy. military interrogators kept questioning one detainee, a Kuwaiti engineer, about his Casio
watch.S. If I had known that, I would have thrown it away.
That continues to be the case with some of those in the camp. I am Muslim and pray five times a day," the man explained.
An account in the Guardian This watch has a compass that shows the direction of Mecca.. "If I had known that, I would have thrown it away.
About half of the detainees still at Guantanamo are Yemeni nationals, of which 36 were approved for repatriation by the review task force with another 30 designated for possible future transfer,
dependent on security conditions in Yemen."
The man's name wasn't revealed, and it's unclear whether he was released or is still being held.
There's been no public comment from the Casio company about the U."
Among other information in the documents:
• On Sept." He added that, "We have four chaplains" at Guantanamo.