Pressure mounts to aid return of 'Guantanamo Nine'

The UK government came under increasing pressure today to help set free British residents held at Guantanamo Bay after it emerged an offer from America was turned down.

The US deal, proposed in June, came with the condition the prisoners were kept under 24-hour surveillance if set free in the UK, according to documents obtained by The Guardian.

However, the government ruled out the move, saying that as the men are foreigners it is up to the countries where they are from to apply for their release from the controversial US-controlled detention centre for suspected terrorists.

Today Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said Britain has “a moral obligation” towards those held, while Amnesty International branded the British government’s refusal as “shameful”.

The documents are understood to have been submitted by top government officials for a judicial review into the decision, made by then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, not to apply for the men’s release.

The appeal, being heard at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, was launched by the men’s representatives and families.

The hearing relates to nine men who are, or were, resident in the UK, but this is the minimum number of British residents who have been detained for years without trial at the detention centre in Cuba after being taken prisoner in the so-called war against terror.

American authorities are under pressure to close the centre which last month Lord Falconer described as a “shocking affront to the principles of democracy“.

Following the release of details of the deal, Mr Campbell said the British government “really needs to make up its mind” on the issue.

“What is the point of the Attorney General and Lord Chancellor condemning Guantanamo as legally unacceptable when the British Government, at the same time, is unwilling to take back UK residents who are detained there?

“The truth is that Britain has a moral obligation towards these men and we should not shirk from our responsibility.”

Amnesty International UK media director Mike Blakemore said it was time the men were free to return to their friends and family in the UK: “We’ve said repeatedly that the government’s refusal to act on behalf of long-term residents of this country imprisoned at Guantanamo has been shameful.

“These men have become the UK’s forgotten Guantanamo prisoners.

“It’s now vital that the government says publicly that it will not stand in the way of their being released and that there are no conditions placed on their return to family and friends in Britain."

He added: “Meanwhile, if there is any credible evidence of their involvement in any wrongdoing, then they should of course be prosecuted in proper trials - but not, as has been the case, held indefinitely without charge or subjected to an unfair military commission process.”

The Guardian refers to witness statements from David Richmond, the director-general of defence and intelligence at the Foreign Office and William Nye, director of counter-terrorism and intelligence at the Home Office.

Mr Richmond wrote: “The British embassy in Washington was told in mid-June 2006 that, during an internal meeting between US officials, the possibility had been floated of asking the UK government to consider taking back all the detainees at Guantanamo Bay who had formerly been resident in the UK.”

On June 27 British officials met their US counterparts from the departments of state, defence and the national security council, where discussions were held about the proposal, according to Mr Richmond’s statement.

Foreign office officials have consistently denied that any talks have taken place over the issue of the detained British residents, the Guardian reports.

In his statement, Mr Nye wrote: “The US administration envisages such measures such that the returnees cannot legally leave the UK, engage with known extremists or engage in support, promote, plan or advocate extremist or violent activity, and further have the effect of ensuring that the British authorities would be certain to know immediately of any attempt to engage in any such activity.”

The measures the US wants in place would have to be enacted by MI5 which Mr Nye wrote would require resources that “could not be justified”, adding that the men “did not pose a sufficient threat” to warrant this.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We regard the circumstances under which detainees continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay as unacceptable.

“As the Prime Minister has said, Guantanamo should be closed.

“We are not in a position to provide consular or diplomatic assistance to foreign nationals in Guantanamo Bay.

“However we have, exceptionally, met the families and representatives of these men and have conveyed their concerns to the US on a humanitarian basis.”