He repeats the statements made to his father about him being sent to America for treatment rather than interrogation. Neither father nor son had ever heard of Camp X-Ray. "They all knew that I was not al-Qaida," said Abdul. "They were just taking me to America as a patient."

However, medical notes made by doctors at US bases in Afghanistan and Camp X-ray reveal the extreme distress of a mentally ill man plunged into a frightening world. They show Abdul arrived at Camp X-Ray on January 21. Doctors at first thought he was in his 40s. No family history was said to be available even though the US military in Afghanistan had been in contact with his father. Yet two weeks later he still had not been transferred to a medical centre - despite over-riding evidence.

On February 6, notes show Abdul is yelling and throwing water and stones at staff. He is restrained by being shackled to a rack. Two days later things are no better. Abdul is biting himself and when allowed to go to the toilet, throws excrement. Finally a doctor notes: "The environment in the cell area is not conducive to patient recovery."

By February 19 - four weeks since his arrival - Abdul is finally transferred to the "fleet hospital", and what he refers to as his "comfortable bed". Over the months he spent as a detainee, medical staff reported a range of disturbing behavior from crying, mumbling and singing to mixing urine with toothpaste and drinking shampoo.

Two weeks later, Abdul's doctors report that he is friendlier and more alert. An entry describes Abdul sitting on a mat with his legs crossed, quietly watching the guards, smiling, waving and saying hello to staff. But four days later his mood changes. A doctor says he is crying and shouting in his cell and no interpreter is available to help calm him down.

Throughout his detention, Abdul tries to talk about an old arm injury suffered during an attack on his village years ago. Psychologists decide he is psychotic. One writes: "This man's thinking is fraught with all kinds of difficulties. Examples of this include very symbolic thinking such as "this represents the end of things", we are all here for a celebration", "this means we are all brothers", "these are the lions climbing the sides of the world and getting ready to fight"

"His flow of thinking is circumstantial and according to our translator he takes a very long time to get to the point and sometimes never does. He likes to use idiosyncratic words and appears very involved with numbers, constantly.

 paying attention to his wrist number or yelling out numbers or repeating in English "number one, number one". The psychologist added: "The prognosis for this man is poor. He is not likely to recover in any near future."

On April 26 - three months after he was flown to America - a doctor concludes that Abdul is suffering from a "serious chronic illness". He says he has a high risk of relapses, especially if put under stress. By the beginning of May the Americans appear to be tiring of Abdul and he is finally transferred back to Afghanistan. On May 2, Abdul - still referred to as a detainee - is handcuffed, shackled, strapped down and sedated for the flight to Kandahar. Even there, at the US "detainment facility", he is still held in isolation, handcuffed and shackled according to notes made by medical officer Sgt James Colbert. A week later, he is refusing meals, yelling at guards and banging his head against a wall.

Soon afterwards he is finally transferred to the civilian Four Hundred Beds Hospital in Kabul. "I told the Americans many times to take me to my own house and finally they did," said Abdul. However, for now Abdul and his family are thrilled to have finally been reunited. "When I saw my family again I was really so happy," he said. "I really missed my family. I was there for five months. Now I have come back and I will never leave them again."

Jean Pascal Moret, of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the ICRC had pushed for Abdul's release from Camp X-Ray. He said it was clear to ICRC staff that Abdul was mentally ill and should not be there. "We visited him in Guantanamo Bay and noticed that he had a problem. We discussed that with the detaining authorities. They agreed with that and acknowledged that he had a mental health problem. "The Americans decided that they wanted him to be repatriated and requested ICRC assistance to do that." He added that the US embassy sent letters to the Afghan authorities making it clear that they no longer regarded Abdul as a suspect, rather as a medical case.