Detainees Advised to Eat Meals

A U.S. general told captives Friday he could do nothing to speed their release as he toured the facility and officials said they’d given “The Arabian Nights” and other books to the detainees.

Speaking from a security tower above Camp X-ray, Marine Brig. Gen. Michael Lehnert told the 300 detainees their fate is in the hands of the U.S. government and urged them to eat. Some of the men have refused meals to protest their indefinite detention.

“Nothing you or I can do will either delay or speed action of those who will determine your future,” Lehnert told the men, some of whom have been at the outpost since January. The speech by Lehnert, the commander of the detention mission, was in English but was translated into several languages.

Although a hunger strike that began two weeks ago fizzled this week with the last of three men accepting food, 12 inmates refused lunch Thursday and 13 declined dinner.

“Some still believe they can solve their problems through disobedience,” Lehnert said. “Refusing food is not the answer. You only punish yourself. You do not hurt me. You do not hurt the guards.”

On Friday, military officials said they had distributed books including “The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights,” a collection of occasionally lurid Persian, Arabian and Indian folk tales handed down through several centuries. In Arab countries, editions are often censored to remove sex scenes.

“We distributed story books in Arabic [including] . . . ‘Arabian Nights,’ ” said Lt. Abuhena M. Saiful-Islam, a Muslim chaplain. “We are trying to get some more religious books.”

This week, 38 sets of eyeglasses were handed out. Previously, only copies of the Koran had been given out.