The first Pakistani released from US detention at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has appealed for compensation and said he was contemplating legal action.
"I appeal to the International Red Cross to help me secure compensation because I remained in detention without [being convicted of] any crime and my release proves I am innocent," Mr Mohammad Sagheer said on his return to his village in the northwestern Kohistan region.
"If I have an opportunity or any group supports me, I will definitely seek legal remedy as I am completely innocent".
Mr Sagheer was flown back to Pakistan on October 27th after several months in Guanatanamo's Bay Camp X-Ray on suspicion of links to the al-Qaeda network.
Pakistani security agencies immediately took him into custody for questioning and only freed him Sunday.
The 60-year-old father of 16 said the first month of his detention at the naval base in Cuba was miserable. Along with other prisoners, his beard was shaved off after a 22-hour flight during which he was kept blindfolded and forbidden to speak.
But he said their captors' treatment changed after a month of good behaviour. "I am satisfied with the treatment I received later," he said.
Sagheer was arrested with scores of other Pakistanis by the pro-US Northern Alliance after the fall of the Taliban regime last year. He was later handed over to US forces in Afghanistan. He said he had gone to the country merely to meet with a gathering of senior preachers.
AFP