Far from being an al-Qaida terrorist and supporter of Osama bin Laden bent on the destruction of America, 25-year-old Abdul is a simple farmer's son from a tiny village north of Kabul. And all he had done was to shout at some passers-by in the street - hardly surprising since he is a schizophrenic. His treatment raises disturbing questions about the conduct of the American military.

Abdul's family say the Americans knew he was mentally ill before they flew him to Cuba. But instead of treating him at a US base in Afghanistan or sending him to the Kabul hospital where he eventually ended up five months on, America decided to treat him like a terrorist. Abdul appears to have been so heavily drugged at Camp X-Ray that his life became a blur. "I remember thinking I just wanted my God to take me to my family and to see them again. I was very emotional, I suffered there."

Last month the Americans finally admitted Abdul is an innocent man with mental health problems. Two weeks ago, he was reunited with his family. We secured an exclusive interview with Abdul and his family in his village near Pol-e-Khomri in Afghanistan.

They told how his nightmare began as the Americans rounded up large numbers of al-Qaida "suspects" following the fall of the Taliban. Abdul was picked up by the Americans at Mazar-e-Sharif doing "nothing more sinister than shouting at passers-by", according to witnesses.

Abdul’s uncle, Abdul Halim, 32, said he had a history of disappearing. "He went missing in the middle of the night like he often did. "We were so worried about whether he was alive or not because we all knew he had some mental problems. When you were talking to him sometimes he used to hit his head with a stone. "All our family went out looking for him in the villages around here but no-one could find him. We were going crazy with worry. His grandmother broke down on her knees crying out of fear that she would never see him again. His mother too was crying."

One month on, after their search led them 110 miles north to Mazar-e-Sharif they discovered what had happened to Abdul. The family had been told someone matching his description had been arrested by the Americans. Frantic with worry, they tried to contact US military officers. But they were fobbed off with assurances that Abdul was in the hands of people who wanted to help him.

"The US military told me not to worry about him," said Abdul's father, Abdul Hamid. "They said they wanted to put him in a military hospital and treat him. Afterwards when he was feeling better they would send him back. They said they accepted he was not from al-Qaida but they still wanted to send him to America to treat him because Afghanistan was a poor country and didn't have the right medical facilities."

The family is penniless but devoted to Abdul. They live in a three-room home on the edge of a village destroyed in the civil war that saw much of Afghanistan reduced to rubble. Last week surrounded by his father, sister and three younger brothers, Abdul recalled his ordeal at Camp X-Ray.

"I remember going on the plane. There were 30 of us. All the rest were al-Qaida and they were all talking to each other. I didn't speak to any of them.

"I was wearing a red suit, glasses and ear muffs. When we got to Cuba there were some translators. They asked me if I was al-Qaida and I said I was sick. Then they saw my papers and said I was ill and they were sending me to the hospital."

Abdul remembers little of the following weeks.

"After two months I realized I was in America," he said. "I remember being in a cell with two mountains on either side. Abdul added that the Americans "told me I was al-Qaida. I told them I was not. I was confused. "I said, 'I am not a terrorist. I had never put a gun on my shoulder and I was a farmer'. I told them I had mental problems and I didn't know what to do there."

Abdul's schizophrenia is now controlled by medication - given to him by the Americans. He says the Americans had a "good manner" and speaks like a child of how he had eggs for breakfast each morning.