Sami Al Hajj

Born in Sudan in February 15, 1969, Al Hajj, also known as Sami Al-Haj, is a Sudanese journalist for the Al Jazeera network. He gained his fame in 2001, while on his way to do camera work for the network in Afghanistan, he was arrested and held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba for over six years. He was released without charge on May 1, 2008 with two other detainees from Sudan. He plans to launch legal action against George W Bush. Al Hajj’s case was portrayed in a documentary titled Prisoner 345 by Al Jazeera producer, Ahmad Ibrahim. Hajj is back at work at the Arabic satellite news network, leading a new desk devoted to human rights and public liberties as a correspondent.