GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA — A businessman being held for allegedly providing support to Al Qaeda has refused to have a heart operation at the U.S. military detention center hospital here and instead is seeking a court order for civilian treatment in the U.S. or his native Pakistan.
The dispute over who should operate and where has spotlighted questions of medical ethics in the handling of some of the 430 terrorism suspects detained at Guantanamo.
Saifullah Paracha, a 59-year-old real estate and media mogul who lived in the United States for 16 years, was to have undergone a cardiac catheterization this week to explore the cause of recurring chest pains and two previous heart attacks.
Guantanamo officials say that their 150-person medical team is capable of performing the routine operation and that nearly $400,000 was spent flying in a 24-member team of cardiac specialists and equipment to be on hand in case of complications.
But Paracha's lawyers told a U.S. district judge in Washington last week that Guantanamo doctors had left him shackled during previous examinations and treatments. Paracha's request for a court order to halt the operation at the prison was denied Monday, when Judge Paul L. Friedman said he was not convinced Paracha faced a risk of "irreparable injury" at Guantanamo.
Friedman said that government doctors operate on prisoners throughout the U.S. correctional system, but that he was troubled by the reports that Paracha was treated with his arms and legs restrained by metal shackles.
Cardiac catheterization is a diagnostic procedure that involves inserting a thin plastic tube into a vein or artery and threading it to the heart to locate any blockages and measure blood pressure, said Capt. Ronald Sollock, commander of the U.S. Naval Hospital here.
"We have absolutely all the expertise and equipment here to do the procedure, be it the catheterization or stent replacement or open-heart surgery," Sollock said in an interview, reiterating the assertions he submitted to Friedman through the Justice Department last week. "We would never have suggested doing it here if we didn't have every capability available."
Sollock and Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., who commands the prison and interrogation network, said Paracha's refusal to allow the surgery would be respected for now.
