Guantanamo Inmate Nixes Heart Procedure

In this photo, reviewed by a US Department of Defense official, detainees stand together at a fence, one holding Islamic prayer beads, at Camp Delta prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2006. An attorney for a Guantanamo Bay detainee, Saifullah A. Paracha, has asked a judge to block a planned medical procedure on the prisoner's heart, saying that performing it at the U.S. base puts his life at risk, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006. Paracha already had one heart attack while in U.S. custody and in recent days has suffered chest pains, his lawyers said. Doctors plan to perform a cardiac catheterization on him this month at Guantanamo. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) (Brennan Linsley - AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A 59-year-old Guantanamo Bay detainee has refused to have a required heart procedure at the U.S. military base in Cuba, one of his attorneys said Sunday.

Saifullah A. Paracha, a Pakistani multimillionaire, will not agree to have a cardiac catheterization done at the base because he thinks its medical facilities and backups are inadequate, said Zachary Katznelson of the London-based human rights group Reprieve.

"This is a completely new procedure for Guantanamo. Mr. Paracha very well might need open heart surgery, and that has never been done before at Guantanamo," Katznelson said.

Paracha, who is accused of laundering money for al-Qaida and plotting to smuggle explosives into the United States, already has had one heart attack while in U.S. custody and has recently suffered chest pains, according to his lawyers.

Cardiac catheterization is a diagnostic procedure used to detect blockages or other heart problems. A doctor inserts a thin plastic tube into an artery or vein in the arm or leg and pushes it into the chambers of the heart or into the coronary arteries to measure blood pressure within the heart and blood oxygen levels. Sometimes the procedure involves injecting a dye and using radiology to get images of any blockages.

Treatment options for blockages can include anti-clotting drugs and balloon angioplasty to open the artery. Heart bypass surgery is often the preferred solution when there are many blockages.

A motion filed by Paracha's legal team to block the medical procedure, which doctors have scheduled for this month, is expected to be heard Monday in a federal court in Washington. Government lawyers have asked the court to reject the motion.

Paracha's family has urged Pakistan's government to seek his return home for medical treatment.

Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said Guantanamo has a "first class medical facility for detainees" and rejected the charge that the detention center was not equipped to successfully perform the catheterization.

"The assertion that this detainee's medical condition is 'completely new' at Guantanamo is patently false. A detainee was treated successfully for a serious heart condition by a team of doctors at Guantanamo in 2003," Gordon said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

He said medical personnel have recommended additional help and equipment in the past to ensure detainees receive the necessary care.

Paracha has acknowledged meeting Osama bin Laden twice, but denied making investments for al-Qaida members, translating statements for bin Laden, joining in a plot to smuggle explosives into the United States or recommending that nuclear weapons be used against U.S. soldiers.

In July, his son Uzair Paracha was convicted of agreeing to help an al-Qaida operative with terrorist designs sneak into the United States. A U.S. District Court judge in New York sentenced the son to 30 years in federal prison.