• As Taliban regroup, victims battle for 'free' Afghanistan

    Anja Niedringhaus / AP, file

    Zalmai Faizi, a seven-year veteran of the Afghan National Police, last month buried his five-year-old daughter Ennah and 18-year-old son Zalkai after they were murdered by Taliban gunmen.

    By Tazeen Ahmad, NBC News

    The Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan 11 years ago this week but remain a threat. NBC News spoke to Afghans who have suffered at their hands and looked at what people believe the country's future will hold after NATO troops withdraw in 2014.

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- Zalmai Faizi's two children were playing in his police car when the Taliban assassins pulled up on motorcycles. 

    After having a few words with Faizi's son, the gunmen peppered the vehicle leaving the teenager and his five-year-old sister dead. Faizi rushed out of his house to find his kids in a pool of blood. 

    As a police officer in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province, the 40-year-old carries out one of the world's most dangerous jobs. He paid an unimaginable price for his convictions.


    "I have been getting threats since last year by the Taliban, but I decided not to give it any attention," he told NBC News. "I was not the target because I came home 10 minutes before. They had a chat with my son and then they started firing."

    Faizi believes the Taliban wanted to teach him a lesson and send a message to others: Quit your job or pay a heavy price. He says he ignored the warnings simply because he had no other choice. He needed his monthly salary of $224 and had long-accepted that the job came with some risks. 

    'My only hope'
    Like many of his countrymen, Faizi believes in a secure and safe Afghanistan. Without people like him, Afghanistan could fall into chaos or back into the hands of the Taliban and warlords after NATO troops leave.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    He and his wife and their remaining kids are now in a desperate state, in fear for their own lives and catatonic with grief.

    "I have lost my young son and daughter who were my only hope and for whom I had great aspirations," he said through tears.

    Threats from the Taliban are a regular occurrence for all security officials in Afghanistan. The Taliban have sworn to kill anyone who colludes with "evil" Western forces. Faizi's kids were the latest in a long line of victims but such attacks are neither rare nor isolated.

    Analysts believe such incidents -- as well as insider attacks by Afghan security personnel targeting NATO troops -- are part of a Taliban plan to weaken government forces ahead of a comeback when foreign troops leave.

    Joint US-Afghan operations are becoming more common, and so are the risks. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    In the lead-up to the planned withdrawal in 2014, Taliban strategies have become both smarter and more sinister. Just last month, six Afghan policemen were poisoned by their cook. As they lay unconscious they were shot dead by another colleague. The Taliban's fight for survival has become increasingly dirty, driven by a determination that the group will rise again.

    Notorious Taliban leader Mullah Omar remains elusive. Rumors of whether he is dead, alive or insane have gone into overdrive but his 10-year absence from the public stage has not lessened his influence.

    "He remains an important leader and figure for the Taliban, but the Taliban is successful because of middle-level commanders," NBC News terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann said. "It's like a franchise; it's decentralized enough so that the Taliban are going to be around whether or not there is a Mullah Omar."

    More Afghanistan coverage from NBC News

    He describes the Taliban today as a patchwork of groups spread across large regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan borders, held together by common religious beliefs, social objectives and an opposition to foreign "occupation."

    "At this point, they've put their differences aside in order to unite and fight the Western presence," Kohlmann added.

    Soosan Firooz rhymes about Afghanistan and the many crises its people have faced. In a country where public performance by women is frowned upon, this is no easy feat.  NBC News' Tazeen Ahmad reports.

    Just over a decade ago, the world watched in horror as the Taliban blew up Buddhas in Bamiyan province and shot women at close range in a stadium in Kabul. Kohlmann says they have since, publicly at least, moderated and attempted to change their image so they can engage in the world of diplomacy.

    However, many ordinary people in Afghanistan believe the same medieval attitudes to women and justice are simmering below the surface, along with the Taliban's long-established appetite for unpalatable brutality.

    Jamieson Lesko / NBC News

    When they ruled Kabul in the 1990s, the Taliban forced people who were being executed up on to this diving board and pushed them into the empty pool below.

    Nowhere is this more apparent than in Kabul, where countless cemeteries sprawl across the city with no boundaries, some graves no more than a piece of rock in the ground.

    Within these cemeteries, lie the bodies of thousands of ordinary Afghans killed by the Taliban. It's a stark reminder of the city's dreadful history.

    At a hilltop above one graveyard is an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It was once the scene of heinous acts of cruelty when during the 1990s the Taliban forced people to climb to the top diving board and pushed them into the empty pool to meet a terrible death below.

    Tazeen Ahmad / NBC News

    Some of the graves in Kabul's cemeteries are no more than a piece of rock in the ground.

    Today's Taliban now defend their record on human rights. Whether the people of Afghanistan have forgotten is another story. However, a decade is a long time out of power.

    New tricks
    The Taliban have regrouped, modernized, learned new tricks and taken their battle to many fronts – including the Internet. They use Facebook to gather information and Twitter to spread their propaganda. Every attack is tweeted about immediately with over-inflated claims of how many "invaders" were killed. They've even got an ongoing online spat with ISAF – with each side equally determined to win the war of words.

    Away from cyberspace, some of the most notorious aspects of Taliban ideology have seeped into everyday life.

    In recent months, violence against women has increased dramatically. Afghanistan's Independent Human Right Commission on Tuesday said it has registered more than 3,000 cases of violence against women this year. More than 700 cases have been reported in Herat alone.

    Newlywed beheaded for her refusal to become prostitute

    Others say the numbers are far higher in more remote regions. Women have been burnt, mutilated, decapitated, had acid thrown in their faces, sold, prostituted, raped and used as currency. Not all of this is because of the Taliban, but women's groups say this increase in violence is part and parcel of the Taliban's legacy.

    A suicide bomber, disguised as an Afghan police officer, blew himself up outside a mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing 40 people and wounding more than 50. NBC's Tazeen Ahmad reports from Kabul.

    Despite public declarations to the contrary, the Taliban have not relinquished attempts to derail education for Afghan girls. During the summer, 160 schoolgirls were admitted to hospital in northern Afghanistan after they were poisoned; the police say the Taliban were responsible.

    Razia Jan, a strong-minded and charismatic Afghan-American, runs a girls school about 30 miles from Kabul called the Zubili Education Center. Remarkably, men in the surrounding seven villages have overcome their initial resistance and have now joined forces to become its biggest protectors. But the threat from the Taliban is never far away. Jan speaks cautiously, conscious of drawing too much unnecessary attention.

    Karen Wong / Razia's Ray of Hope Foundation

    Razia Jan's school provides free education to over 350 young girls every day.

    "There are now millions of girls that go to school but education has been and is going to be hurt by the Taliban," she told NBC News. "They are supposed to be students of religion but they are thugs; they are terrorists."

    This hasn't stopped Jan. Her school provides free education to more than 350 young girls daily. "It's such a blessing for them to learn something and go back home. The fathers are so proud," she says.

    Meet Afghanistan's 1st female rapper

    These small signs of hope and bravery can be found across Afghanistan. Gul Jan, a 55-year-old woman from northwest Afghanistan's Shebarghan city is more courageous than most.

    Her husband was murdered by the Taliban -- flogged, whipped and beaten for hours until he collapsed in front of their house.

    Shortly after his death, they forced her out of her home. Determined to survive for her five young children, Gul Jan rebuilt her life and now works as a tailor.  That's no mean feat for a single mother in Afghanistan. She does not mince her words about the Taliban.

    "They are very bad people," she says. "People should go and ask them why they are doing this. This is not our religion."

    In recent months, there have also been reports of 10 separate anti-Taliban insurgencies occurring in remote regions of Afghanistan. However, analysts say these small steps are not indicative of a wider trend, at least not yet.

    NBC's Richard Engel examines America's progress after fighting for more than a decade in Afghanistan. Is there any evidence that the American plan to hand over a credible, stable Afghan government will work?

    But in Kabul, there are other signs of change. The blue burqa, one of the most potent images of Taliban times, is not as ubiquitous as it once was.

    Women across the capital wander around with full faces of make-up -- heads always draped with a shawl as is customary -- but also the flash of a killer heel beneath a long local robe, or the jangle of bracelets as they shop alone or in pairs. The tradition of a male companion has been long-deemed unnecessary.

    PhotoBlog: Afghan women learn literacy through mobile phones

    But as women wander through stores in central Kabul with names like "Life's Good," the shadow of the Taliban is never far away. 

    "For years the Taliban have destroyed Afghanistan. They destroyed lives for girls," Razia Jan added. "But I think they are just cowards hiding in places where nobody can get to them and they come out like a snake and they bite you and then they slither back."

    She then adds with a smile, "I can imagine an Afghanistan that is someday free of the Taliban. It will take awhile, but I think it's possible."

    NBC News' Jamieson Lesko contributed to this report.

    Follow NBC News' Tazeen Ahmad on Twitter.

    As the security in Afghanistan crumbles, 'Nightly' returns to an orphanage that Brian Williams first visited in 2009 to find girls with big dreams who are focused on getting into college.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • Newlywed Afghan beheaded for her refusal to become prostitute

    Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

    Najibullah, who confessed to murdering his cousin's wife, Mahgul, 25, walks handcuffed with two Afghanistan security personnel in Herat on Oct. 15, 2012. Afghan police have arrested four people who allegedly forced a woman into prostitution in western Afghanistan and beheaded her after she refused, officials said.

    By Tazeen Ahmad, NBC News

    The decapitation of a young woman who resisted being forced into prostitution by her own family has led to the arrests of four Afghans, and shocked a country that has seen its share of violence over decades of war. 

    Mahgul, a 25-year-old newlywed, was murdered in Herat, a region of western Afghanistan where attacks against women have been on the rise, Afghan police told journalists. Her killing this past week was particularly disturbing because her body was found decapitated outside her marital home.

    Police said the arrests on Saturday include her mother-in-law, father-in-law, and her husband.

    The fourth individual is reported to be her husband’s cousin, who was arrested later after witnesses said he was seen with a bloody knife outside the house at the time the murder took place. The 18-year-old, identified only as Najibullah, confessed to the crime in front of reporters and television cameras, saying his aunt, Parigul, forced him to kill Mahgul.

    Thousands of UK troops to quit Afghanistan in '13

    “My uncle’s wife told me I should kill this person,” he told reporters. “I couldn’t kill her. She told me, ‘if you can’t kill her, then help me do it.’ She forced me and I helped her.” 

    He described how his aunt held Mahgul down by the legs as he beheaded her. Najibullah said his aunt told him she wanted the bride dead "'because she doesn’t listen to me.'"

    Joint US-Afghan operations are becoming more common, and so are the risks. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    Police said their investigation has led them to conclude Mahgul was killed because she refused to become a prostitute and that during her four months of marriage she was repeatedly pressured by her mother-in-law to sleep with other men.

    Mahgul’s immediate family were the ones to discover her body. They joined protests outside a police station in Herat, where dozens of women’s rights activists were protesting about delays in charging suspects in murder cases such as Mahgul's.

    Ryan wades deep into lengthy Afghanistan argument 


    This murder follows the discovery of another case in the region earlier this month, in which the body of a 30-year-old woman was found with her nose, ears and fingers removed.  

    Amnesty International said Mahgul’s murder was one of many violent incidents against women and girls in the region. The Herat region, which borders Iran, was once known for its liberal treatment of women but has become increasingly conservative in the past decade.  

    Buzkashi: World’s toughest sport or source of hope?

    At least 700 cases of violence against Herat women have been documented in the past year, according to estimates by the Department of Women’s Affairs in Herat. Cases include domestic violence, torture, murder and physical mutilation.

    Sayed Abdul Qadir Rahimi, regional director for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in Western Afghanistan, told NBC News that violence against women was on the rise and that countless more cases go unreported.

    Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said in a briefing that the United States would continue working with the Afghan government to advance women and girls’ rights.

    "All of our international efforts are designed to create the structures and institutions of the Afghan state to help protect these rights going forward," Nuland said. "But it’s a long road, and we’re going to have to keep working on it. And as we’ve said, even as we wind down the combat mission, our civilian programs are going to continue in Afghanistan."

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • Couple held hostage by pirates for 388 days to set sail on new journey

    When Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler finally gained their freedom from captivity after having been held for months in Africa, they began to plan their next adventure – another journey across the ocean. NBC News' Tazeen Ahmad reports.

    By Tazeen Ahmad, NBC News

    DARTMOUTH, England -- Almost three years after Paul and Rachel Chandler were snatched at gunpoint and taken hostage by Somali pirates, they are returning to the high seas - in the same yacht.

    The British pair were taken prisoner for 388 days while sailing in the Indian Ocean in October 2009 with the pirates demanding a $7-million ransom, a sum the Chandlers knew was far beyond what their family and friends could raise. Hidden in Somalia, they faced the risk of disease and feared getting caught in the cross-fire between multiple gangs or being sold to al-Qaida.

    Their torment now just a memory, the Chandlers are due to set off later this week on a six-month cruise to Brazil aboard the Lynn Rival.

    "It's our life," Paul told NBC News. "Our yacht ... enabled us to get our sanity back. We won't be beaten by these guys."

    The most striking thing about the couple is not that they emerged unscathed from captivity but just how intensely close they are. The strength of their marriage was key to helping them survive the 13-month long nightmare at the hands of Somali pirates.

    Courtesy Chandler family

    Paul and Rachel Chandler's yacht was returned to them after their kidnap ordeal at the hands of Somali pirates.

    Married for more than 30 years, Rachel often finishes Paul's sentences for him, while he hangs on her every word; they grin at each other constantly as if sharing a private joke.

    Throughout our interview at a quiet marina in Devon, on the southwest coast of England, they inched closer together, often leaning in to whisper reassurances or give a squeeze of the hand.

    Courtesy Chandler family

    Rachel Chandler was photographed by her husband Paul while being held hostage in Somalia.

    Rachel, 58, is the chattier of the two with twinkling blue eyes and an easy smile. Paul, 61, is softly-spoken and amiable, but more reserved than his gregarious wife. Underneath the friendly banter there is a steely determination that must have served them well when they faced their biggest challenge at sea.

    Somali pirates claim to kill hostage over ransom delay

    As we sit aboard the Lynn Rival, the Chandlers recounted how they had just enjoyed a break in the Seychelles in October 2009 before setting sail for Tanzania. It was then that their trip turned into a living hell.

    'Morbid souvenir'
    The pirates launched their attack in the middle of the night while Rachel was on watch. She recalls hearing the engine of their vessel approach, a light was shone and then 10 men armed with guns and knives jumped on board yelling. A terrified Rachel froze. She shows me what she calls a "morbid souvenir," a sharp knife in its leather sheath belonging to one of the pirates. She giggles as she admits to having also kept one of the pirate's torn flip-flops; we joke about her putting it up for auction on eBay.


    In their months as prisoners, the couple sometimes wondered if they should have jumped into the midnight ocean at that moment. However, they know that it would only have meant certain death. Instead they spent six days in confined space with Somali pirates while they and their boat were brought to a container ship. From there they realized bigger plans were afoot.

    "We knew we were going to be taken on shore, and when we landed on Somalia, then it really hit home and that was a real low point," Paul said.

    Courtesy Chandler family

    Rachel Chandler, photographed here by her husband during their 388 days in captivity, says she "never stopped wanting to go out to sea."

    The couple were taken in-land where they were held for 382 more days. Somali pirates assume that all Westerners are extremely wealthy, especially those able to take a yacht to sea.  

    Paul, a Cambridge University-educated civil engineer, and Rachel, a former government economist, embarked on a part-time sailing lifestyle in 2005 but knew that raising the $7-million ransom would be almost impossible.

    "They knew that had to keep us alive and so they did feed us most of the time," says Rachel. "At times they tried to threaten us, obviously encourage us to beg for money when they allowed us to speak to our family. All they wanted was money."

    Author Jay Bahadur, who spent a year among the Somali pirates, breaks down their business model, start-up costs, and busts myths about how they choose their target.

    From Sept. 2010: Pirates, insurers profit from high-seas raids

    The weeks and months that followed were difficult. The couple had their hopes of being released dashed so many times, they soon learned to ignore the pirates attempts to upset them. Largely, the couple say, they came to no harm, although Paul does add they were beaten once. This was after they resisted the captors' attempts to separate them. The separation hit Rachel, in particular, very hard.

    "I couldn't eat, I couldn't function, I couldn't think," she says. "I was worrying all the time about how Paul was and what pressure they are putting him under and whether he was well and still alive."

    During this time Paul tried to befriend his captors while Rachel says she coped by daydreaming of rescue, recalling happier times and focusing on getting through from one day to the next.

    The pirates were brought aboard the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, the same ship Iran's navy threatened on Tuesday. NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    In total they were held for 388 days, during which time Paul's elderly father passed away.

    Their families finally managed to raise a fraction of the ransom demanded – about $440,000. The pirates took this but refused to return the couple. The couple's relatives were devastated -- and allege that they had very little help or guidance from the British government.

    "Some governments have a reputation of being hard – the French and the Americans particularly," Paul said. "They want to send a message: Don't mess with our citizens. The British government hasn't had the will to do that. "

    Report: Alarming rise in piracy off coast of West Africa

    In the end, help came from an unexpected quarter. A British-Somali businessman reportedly raised some more cash and with some negotiation, secured their release.

    The news flashed across the world. Unbeknownst to them, during their time in captivity the couple had become household names in Britain. The now-famous footage showing their moment of freedom has them looking thin and frail but chatting happily.

    ITV's Juliet Bremner reports on Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were released after being held by Somali pirates for more than one year.

    A stronger, healthier Rachel now tells me through smiles she was stunned by the coverage.

    "It was the same time as [Myanmar's opposition leader] Aung San Suu Kyi [was freed] and to be next to her in the headlines was just unbelievable for us."

    EU forces attack Somali pirates on land for 1st time

    In the time since, the couple have not had any counseling but they say writing their book, "Hostage: A Year at Gunpoint with Somali Gangsters" has provided closure. But the most cathartic times may yet lie ahead, when they take Lynn Rival back to sea.

    "I never stopped wanting to go out to sea," Rachel says. "What happened to us was an extremely unlucky experience. It hasn't changed my love of sailing, cruising or traveling."

    They laugh at suggestions that they are either "bonkers or brave"; their biggest concern is neither flashbacks nor pirates striking again but more their physical fitness. But when pushed, Paul does hint at a new cautiousness.

    Somali pirates go high tech

    "It's a shame because every time we are approached by a little boat at sea, it's probably a fisherman wanting to give you fish in exchange for a cigarette or a bit of water, but we will be more wary."

    After what they've been through, no one, least of all a friendly fisherman, would blame them.

    Follow NBC News' Tazeen Ahmad on Twitter.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook


     

  • 'Bad manners' but 'not rape': UK politician's defense of Julian Assange sparks storm

    Goodnight with George Galloway

    George Galloway talks about the Julian Assange case during one of his regular video podcasts.

    By Tazeen Ahmad, NBC News

    LONDON -- As U.S. Congressman Todd Akin fights for his political life over his "legitimate rape" comments, a high-profile British politician has ignited a storm on the other side of the Atlantic over the definition of rape.

    George Galloway, a member of the U.K. parliament and former leader of the left-wing Respect Party, waded into the debate around the allegations faced by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

    During a 31-minute podcast, Galloway discussed the claims made by two Swedish woman against Assange in graphic detail, claiming that his alleged behavior was at worst "bad manners" but "not rape."

    The colorful Galloway -- who has been dubbed "Gorgeous George" by some U.K. tabloids  -- is no stranger to controversy. He grabbed headlines around the world after he shook hands with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1994 and praised him for his "strength, courage and indefatigability." He also appeared as a contestant on "Celebrity Big Brother" -- where he famously pretended to be a cat.

    Ina / INA via AP, file

    Iraqi President Saddam Hussein receives visiting MP George Galloway on Aug. 8, 2002, in Baghdad.


    This week's "Goodnight with George Galloway" video podcast put him back in the spotlight.    

    "Some people believe that when you go to bed with somebody, take off your clothes, and have sex with them and then fall asleep, you're already in the sex game with them," Galloway said, gesticulating emphatically. "It might be really bad manners not to have tapped her on the shoulder and said: 'Do you mind if I do it again?' It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning."

    Cue gasps all around.

    May 17, 2005: British lawmaker George Galloway rejects a Senate subcommittee's claim that Saddam Hussein awarded him lucrative allocations under the U.N. oil-for-food program.

    His comments provoked a furious response on Twitter and were blasted by women's groups and newspaper columnists.

    Writing in the Daily Telegraph, British broadcaster and journalist Christina Odone said that Galloway "should be punished at the ballot box" for his views. "When it comes to rape, misogyny is rife in politics," she added.

    Assange in balcony appeal to Obama: Release leak suspect Bradley Manning

    Scotsman columnist Emma Cowing wrote that Galloway's comments were "about men redefining serious crimes against women to suit a political agenda."

    "Rape victims have a history of being ignored and accused of lying," she added. "They have a history of feeling terrified of speaking out in case they are not believed, or are ridiculed, or have to face their attacker and relive the crime. This is why so many rape victims never report their crimes and why so many find it difficult to speak out in court."

    Telegraph assistant comment editor Tom Chivers wrote that "the situation Galloway has just described is absolutely, 100 per cent, no-ifs-or-buts definitely rape."

    He added: "Listen, George: it is possible to think that WikiLeaks have done some good things without believing that Assange can do no wrong, or that all attempts to make him face trial are some sort of grand conspiracy."

    From the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Julian Assange asked the U.S. to "renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks." NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

    Galloway is not the first British politician to get himself into hot water over the issue of rape.

    A year ago, U.K. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke kicked off a similar controversy when he differentiated date rape from "serious rape."  Calls for his resignation came in fast, but the storm settled after he clarified the comments.

    'Both have acted like fools'
    It remains to be seen if the same will be true in the U.S. for Rep. Todd Akin. 

    Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin, who launched a firestorm of controversy after his use of the phrase "legitimate rape" and then ignited further criticism with his comments Tuesday, has said he's going to stay in the race. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

    An editorial in the left-leaning Guardian newspaper compared Akin and Galloway. "They have three things in common. Both are men. Both encourage rape deniers. And both have acted like fools."

    NYT: Akin controversy may endanger GOP chances in the fall

    The messages about rape from the highest echelons of political life come just after the 20th anniversary of legislation that made marital rape in the U.K. a crime. 

    Victoria Derbyshire, the British radio host who took Clarke to task on his views a year ago made one point that resonates as the debate rages on both sides of the Atlantic this week.

    "With respect," she told him in a flat tone, "rape is rape."

    On Tuesday, the 58-year-old Galloway sought to clarify his comments and released a statement.

    "No never means yes and non-consensual sex is rape. There's no doubt about it and that has always been my position," he said.

    "Julian Assange, let's be clear, has always denied the allegations. And this has all the hallmarks of a set-up. I don't believe, from what we know, that the Director of Public Prosecutions would sanction a prosecution in Britain. What occurred is not rape as most people understand it."

    May 17, 2005: British lawmaker George Galloway defends his opposition to the U.S.-led Iraq war.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • How I see America, from a former Gitmo prisoner

    Alastair Grant / AP File

    Moazzam Begg gestures during an interview about his book "Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey to Guantanamo and Back," in a file photo from 2006.

    By Tazeen Ahmad, NBC News

    LONDON – Moazzam Begg makes an unlikely former terrorism suspect. Soft-spoken, gentle-mannered and with a slight build, the British-born 43-year-old is open to tough questions and does not flinch when pushed on his alleged links to international terrorism.

    A special NBC News series: What The World Thinks of U.S. Click here for more information

    The father of four is of Pakistani descent and is the U.K.’s best-known former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. (The U.S. Department of Defense held a total of nine detainees of British descent at Guantanamo Bay at one time; all have been released from detention).  

    After he was freed from the U.S. base in Cuba in 2005, Begg wrote a book about his experiences, “Enemy Combatant: The Terrifying True Story of a Briton in Guantanamo.” The book details how he says he was treated by the Americans in one of the most notorious prisons in the world and how his love for his family kept him sane.

    “I didn’t think I was going to get through it, I didn’t think there was any light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, “but one becomes accustomed to the fear… and you resign yourself to your fate.”

     

    Three years in custody
    His fate turned out to be three years in high-security detention, first in Kandahar and Bagram in Afghanistan and then at Guantanamo. The claims made against him were many: being an al-Qaida member, recruiting others to terrorism, providing support and financing, training in terrorist camps in Afghanistan and training others.

    Despite this, he was never charged. After his release, Begg accused the British government of complicity while he was in American custody, and received an out-of-court settlement in 2010.

    Now living in Birmingham, in central England, he emphatically denies allegations of links to terrorism.   

    “I never fought with al-Qaida or the Taliban or have been a member of either,” he says, “and I think the Americans clearly know this after being held by them and being interrogated over a hundred times.”

    Yet he still cuts a controversial figure. Around the U.K., opinion is divided on whether he was a man jailed for crimes he did not commit or if he does have the ties to terror groups the U.S. alleged before being released without charge in 2005.

    NBC News speaks with citizens from around the globe, asking the question, 'What Does America Mean to You?'

    Alleged torture
    Some consensus, though, has emerged – that he was a victim of human rights violations in the form of being illegally detained and tortured, allegations denied by the U.S. government.

    When I ask about the alleged torture, it’s the only time during our interview that he loses his cool.

     “I was punched and kicked,” he said. “Soldiers cut my clothes off, they shaved my hair and beard forcibly, they took pictures of me naked, dogs frightened me, they interrogated me naked; that was torture.”

    He also says he saw two men beaten to death and heard the sounds of a woman screaming next door that he was led to believe was his wife.

    He says some of his worst moments, though, came from much less dramatic circumstances. He spent most of his time in solitary confinement, he says, in a small cell with no natural light with no meaningful contact from his family and nothing to read. He says that with no end in sight he got very depressed and looked forward only to sleep.

    ‘A lot of decent Americans’
    During this time, I ask him, did he start to hate the people who were responsible for his incarceration?

    No, he says immediately, because help came from an unexpected quarter: His guards became his saving grace. They would talk to him, give him food and snacks when he was hungry, and provided valued snippets of information about his family, his legal case and news from around the world.

    “There are a lot of decent Americans who did things for me which I will remember for the rest of my life,” he says. “And we are still friends to this day.”


    In fact, he says, some of the guards have since visited him at his home in England, adding that they’ve apologized for his treatment and that he has forgiven any role they played in his detention.

    He says the resentment he does harbor is focused on the U.S. administration and its actions in the world.

    ‘No friend of American foreign policy’
     “I am no friend of American foreign policy and I think it needs to be resisted in every way legal,” he said, citing drone attacks in Pakistan, the Abu Ghraib atrocities and U.S. policy in Somalia as examples. “The U.S. has developed a position in the world that is very difficult to draw back from.”

    Today, Begg is not allowed to enter the USA and displays some rare but measured anger when he speaks about it.   

    “I have never been to America but it has been to me,” he said. “It has shown me a face of itself that I didn’t know existed, and that face included extraordinary rendition, false imprisonment, kidnap, torture and the abuses of basic human rights.”

    He also argued that President Obama’s failure to close Guantanamo has been a big mistake, calling it “a recruiting sergeant for radicalism.”

    Begg told me he still suffers flashbacks and nightmares from his time in detention. But he said he focuses his energies as director of CagePrisoners, an organization fighting for the rights of prisoners held around the world in the name of the “war on terror.”  

    This story is part of a series by msnbc.com and NBC News "What the World Thinks of US". The series aims to check the pulse on current perceptions of America's global stature during the election year and ahead of our annual Independence Day.

    Share your thoughts about this story and our series on Twitter using #AmericaMeans '

    Stories in the series: 

    How I see America, from a former Gitmo prisoner

    Bye, bye, GI: Deep impact for many Germans as US troops downsize

    Post-revolution Egypt to US: Stay out 

    Iran's dentist to the stars offers views on US

    For many Pakistanis, 'USA' means 'drones' 

    One man's mission: Promote Chinese patriotism in the face of Western onslaught

    In South Africa: 'My head says China is number one, my heart says America'

    Not all Thais are Gaga about America

    Family moves from the Bronx to Jerusalem, but US remains land of 'liberty and freedom'

    Palestinian: US supports 'an apartheid system that is suffocating us' 

    Afghans are 'no different from any American