US u-turn on death penalty for UK terror suspects

BOWING to pressure from two key allies in the US-declared war on terrorism, the Pentagon said it would not seek the death penalty in any military trials held for two British subjects or an Australian national held at Guantanamo Bay.

The announcement followed the opening of separate talks this week between the Defence Department’s top legal officer and representatives of Britain and Australia, which have complained of legal restrictions in such trials and a possible death penalty for conviction of major crimes. President Bush on July 3 designated six foreign captives eligible to be tried before US military commissions. While none was named, two have been reported to be British and one Australian.

“Among other things, the US assured Britain that the prosecution had reviewed the evidence against Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg, and that based on the evidence, if charged, the prosecution would not seek the death penalty in either case,” a Pentagon statement said on Wednesday.

“Additionally, the circumstances of their cases are such that they would not warrant monitoring of conversations between them and their defence counsels,” it added.

The same assurances were given to Australia regarding David Hicks, who is held along with Abbasi and Begg and more than 600 other “detainees,” most of them at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Most were arrested in Afghanistan.

Human rights groups have said rules for the expected commission trials set by the Pentagon are biased toward the prosecution, place unacceptable conditions on the defence and allow for no independent judicial review by civilian courts.

None of the terror war captives has been charged with any crime, and Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has made no final decision on whether any of the six designated so far by Bush as “eligible” for commissions will be tried.

Pentagon Counsel William Haynes held “productive discussions” this week with British Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, the Pentagon said. Further talks are planned next week. He held similar discussions regarding Hicks with an Australian legal delegation led by Minister of Justice Chris Ellison.

Pentagon officials said this month there was evidence the six designated so far as eligible for trial had attended “terrorist” training camps and may have been involved in financing Saudi-born Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network.