The mobile MRI unit leased by the Pentagon for $370,000 to scan the brain of alleged terrorist Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is not working, according to a report by the Miami Herald.
The scanner was shipped to Guantanamo Bay after a claim by al-Nashiri's defense attorneys that he experienced brain damage as a result of being tortured. If the brain damage claim is verified, it could spare al-Nashiri from the death penalty.
While the Pentagon claims it properly delivered and set up the MRI scanner, Army Col. John Wells reported that it was not operational and requires maintenance due to an inexplicable dissipation of liquid helium from the device. The scanner has been sitting outside the U.S. Navy Hospital Guantanamo Bay for roughly a month.
It has yet to be determined whether or not the Pentagon will now have to pay more than the original rental fee for the scanner, according to the article.
