Guantanamo Bay Xbox 360 game is shelved

Jun 7 2009 by Ben Goldby, Sunday Mercury

‘‘I’m involved to make sure it is as true to life as possible.”

Zarrar Chisti, director of T-Enterprise, previously confirmed that Mr Begg had been scheduled to do some voice-over work and have a 3D version of himself rendered into the game.

He was unavailable for comment last night, but reports in the US say the company has shelved the plans following protests.

Vets for Freedom chairman Pete Hegseth, who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq and worked as a guard at Guantanamo, said his organization had objected over the game.

“It looked like a blatant attempt to twist reality and change the perception of the American soldier,” he said.

“More specifically, a game was being created in which the detainee is made out to be the hero and the American soldier is the enemy. It was to be distributed in the United States or, more important, sold throughout the Middle East on high level platforms to reinforce that stereotype.”

Vets for Freedom also criticised Mr Begg, and accused the former detainee of cashing in on his time in the notorious camp.

“He has made a lot of unsubstantiated claims about torture, mistreatment and, in fact, murder at Guantanamo. He has become sort of a poster child of the anti-war movement,” Mr. Hegseth said. “We need to keep an eye on guys like Moazzam Begg and what they are trying to do in rewriting history; that our troops are oppressors and that the detainees are all victims.”

ben.goldby @sundaymercury.net