US ready to free British terror suspects (Guardian)

[Bozita]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,13743,1387545,00.html

US ready to free British terror suspects

Vikram Dodd
Tuesday January 11, 2005
The Guardian

Anti-terrorism police are drawing up plans for the return to the United Kingdom of the remaining four Britons held as terrorist suspects in Guantánamo Bay.

Four Muslim men have spent up to three years imprisoned in tiny cages without charge or trial. They are expected to be released within days of their arrival back on British soil.

-snip-

Louise Christian, solicitor for two of the British detainees, said: "The British citizens have now served the equivalent of a six-year prison service, without being told what the charges against them are. They have been tortured and ill-treated."

Until now President Bush has snubbed a personal request from Tony Blair for the release of the Britons, which was made last year.

-snip-

more...

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Straw: Guantanamo Britons free in weeks

All four Britons held by the US in Guantanamo Bay will be returned to the UK within weeks, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the Commons on Tuesday.
...
All four families have been informed of their return and have been involved in regular discussions with the government, Mr Straw said.

But he added: "Once they are back in the UK, the police will consider whether to arrest them under the Terrorism Act 2000 for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity."
...
Amnesty International has called Camp Delta a "major human rights scandal that has widespread implications for the whole world".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4163641.stm

[struggle4progress]

2. Profiles of Britons held at Guantanamo Bay

<snip> Moazzam Begg, from Sparkhill, Birmingham, was arrested by the CIA in the Pakistani capital Islamabad in Feb 2002.

The father-of-four had moved to Afghanistan with his family to carry out charity work, relatives said. <snip>

After his arrest, he phoned his father Azmat, a retired bank manager from Birmingham, telling him: "I've been arrested, I'm being taken, I don't know where or why." <snip>

Last year, he said in a handwritten letter that he had been subjected to "vindictive torture'' and death threats by the US authorities and had witnessed the deaths of two fellow detainees "at the hands of US military personnel'' in Afghanistan. <snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/11/uprofiles.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/01/11/ixportaltop.html