Guantanamo prisoner denies interest in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

A lawyer for a Guantanamo Bay detainee said despite recent claims, his client has no interest in "Fifty Shades of Grey," nor is it popular among inmates at the detention facility.

Attorney James Connell said guards gave a copy of the erotic novel to Ammar al-Baluchi, possibly as a joke, possibly in an attempt to discredit him.

Al-Baluchi, also known as Abd al-Aziz Ali, is a senior member of Al Qaeda who has been charged by the United States government with war crimes.

According to the Associated Press, Al-Baluchi is a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Guantanamo prisoner considered to be the mastermind behind the September 11 attacks.

More from GlobalPost: Guantanamo prisoners clamor for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

Last month, US Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia, who visited Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba with a congressional delegation, told the Huffington Post, "Rather than the Koran, the book that is requested most by the (Camp 7 detainees) is 'Fifty Shades of Grey.' They've read the entire series in English."

Camp Seven is a top-security area of the prison that holds five men charged with plotting the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and holds other "high-value" prisoners.

Moran said the inmates' interest in the book showed they were "not exactly holy warriors."

Connell said his client had never heard of the book until Moran's assertion, which came the same night guards gave him a copy of the E.L. James novel. It was never read.

At the time, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel House, a Guantanamo spokesman said "we don't discuss our high-value detainees except in the most generic terms. Further, we do not discuss the assertions made by members of Congress."