Ex-Guantanamo prisoner comes out of coma after Uruguay protest
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A former Guantanamo detainee reportedly has awakened from a coma that resulted from a hunger strike to dramatize his unhappiness about being resettled in Uruguay and his demand to be moved to another country.
Dr. Julia Galzerano of the Medical Union of Uruguay said Dhiab was extremely dehydrated after 11 days without water but said his vital signs were generally good, despite kidney problems.
A supporters’ group known as Vigil for Jihad Dhiab said he began to regain consciousness after treatment with a saline solution.
Dhiab drew international attention through hunger strikes during his 12 years of occasionally confrontational confinement at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
At some point, he began the hunger strike seeking to pressure Uruguay’s government into allowing him to join his wife and children in Turkey or another nation.