in to fix camp bucca.ven he was wary of the inmates. here he is giving cnn's nic robertson a tour in 2008. >> we have about 2,000 identified al qaeda here in the theater. they are hard to break. >> you have shields up here to protect us. everyone is crowded around looking at us now. >> this is not a place that you want to hang around. we don't want to stand here that much longer. they will now organize around us. >> there were beatings, unexplained prisoner deaths and several dangerous jihadis escaped. into this caldron, a new man arrived. we know him now as abu baghdadi, the leader of isis. and, yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. he's shown his face publicly only once. last year when he gave a sermon to his followers. back when the u.s. had him under lock and key, he was seen as believe it or not, a man who could be trusted. >> the americans seemed to see him as someone who could keep the prison quiet. there are 24 camps within the sunni side of camp bucca, he was allowed open access to

this is camp bucca, an american prison. during the iraq war, the most dangerous jihadis were locked up here, up to 20,000 of the country's angriest men. some americans who worked at camp bucca called it simply camp hell. it wasn't just crowded, it was violent. in 2005, riots broke out. detainees went on a rampage, taking over whole sections of the prison camp. american forces massed outside the fences, firing into the crowd. at least four prisoners were killed. >> now, this is camp bucca. there were beatings, unexplained prisoner deaths and several jihadis escaped. early 2004 s a new man arrived. we know him now as the leader of isis. yes, he was in american custody during the iraq war. he has shown his face publicly only once, last year, when he gave a sermon to his followers. but back when the u.s. had him under lock and key, he was seen as, believe it or not, a man who could be trusted. >> the americans seem to see abu >> he wasn't considered from everything that we know now a high-level detainee, and he was allowed to,