"There has been no change in the administration of Guantanamo"

[Coffee and Cake]

Guantanamo detainee claims abuse

Al-Qurani said he has been subjected to ill-treatment almost every day

An inmate in the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has told Al Jazeera that he has been beaten while in custody and had tear gas used on him after refusing to leave his cell.

Mohammad al-Qurani, a Chadian national, said in a phone call to Al Jazeera that the alleged ill-treatment "started about 20 days" before Barack Obama became US president and "since then I've been subjected to it almost every day".

"Since Obama took charge he has not shown us that anything will change," he said.

On his second day in office, Obama ordered the closure of the prison, which has been heavily criticised by rights groups over reports of ill-treatment of detainees.

Obama also signed an order ending the harsh interrogation of prisoners - including the waterboarding technique that causes detainees to feel like they are drowning.

The prison camp was set up by the Bush administration in 2002 to hold prisoners it detained as part of its so-called war on terror.

Several hundred detainees have since been released but more than 240 prisoners remain there, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is suspected of planning the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Read more here: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/04/2009414233431153300.html