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Brown reverses Guantanamo policy

LONDON: Reversing his predecessor Tony Blair’s policy, Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday set in motion a process that could see the release of five U.K. residents languishing in the notorious U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo Bay.

For four years, the erstwhile Blair government had refused to intervene on their behalf arguing that though they had legal residency rights they were not British citizens.

But the Brown Government has now written to the U.S. administration seeking their release in what is seen as its new approach to trans-Atlantic relations. The five are: Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, Jamil el-Banna, Omar Deghayes, Binyam Mohammed al Habashi and Abdulnour Sameur.

The Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary David Miliband had written to his American counterpart Condoleezza Rice “formally” requesting their release.

The change of policy was attributed to the American decision to reduce the number of detenus as part of a plan to wind up the centre and to “engage” with third countries over the transfer and resettlement of prisoners.

“The Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary have reviewed the Government’s approach to this group of individuals in light of these ongoing developments, our long-held policy aim of securing the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and the need to maintain national security. They have decided to request the release and return of the five detainees who have links to the UK as former residents, having been granted refugee status, indefinite leave or exceptional leave to remain prior to their detention,” said a Foreign Office statement.

A spokesman said discussions with the U.S. Government about their release may take some time.

The move was welcomed by civil rights groups. “This change of policy is extremely welcome, especially if it signals a bigger change of approach on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Surely, U.S. and U.K. Governments need no further evidence that internment, kidnap and torture have been completely counterproductive in the struggle against terrorism.

“It’s high time that the special relationship returned to its original values of defending liberty rather than degrading it,” James Welch, legal director of Liberty told the BBC.

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