US military returns body of detainee who died of cancer to Afghanistan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The US military on Thursday returned the body of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who died of cancer to his home country of Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said. The remains of Abdul Razzak were repatriated to Afghanistan for "final disposition" early Thursday, said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman. Further details were not disclosed. Razzak was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in September and had been receiving chemotherapy treatment since October, according to the US military. He died Sunday. The death of the 68-year-old Afghan at the prison clinic marked the first time any of the more than 700 men who have been held at Guantanamo Bay has died from natural causes, the US military said. Four prisoners committed suicide.