Brazilian airline issues alert for former Gitmo detainee

A Brazilian airline is asking its employees to be on the lookout for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Uruguay.

The alert about Syrian native Abu Wa’el Dhiab adds to a growing mystery about his whereabouts. Uruguayan authorities have insisted for weeks that he is visiting neighboring Brazil and that as a refugee he is entitled to leave Uruguay, but the Brazilian government has said there is no record of Dhiab entering the country.

Avianca Airlines spokesman Danilo Alves told The Associated Press on Monday that the alert was issued internally to employees but declined to give any more details.

The alert, published by the Argentine web news portal Infobae, warns employees that Dhiab may be using a fake passport. It also notes that Dhiab uses crutches to walk.

Dhiab is one of six former Guantanamo detainees resettled in Uruguay in late 2014.

Then President Jose Mujica invited them as a humanitarian gesture, but for several of the men, their time in Uruguay has been fraught with problems. They initially complained the government wasn’t helping them enough and they also refused to get jobs, drawing criticism from Uruguayans.

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Image courtesy of AP