Posted by NEWS on 25/1/2005, 21:07:21 By Peter Graff LONDON (Reuters) - The last four British detainees in the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay flew home Tuesday after three years in custody and were immediately arrested by British anti-terrorism police. A UK military plane brought the four Muslim men from Cuba to an air base near London. Their return resolves a diplomatic challenge for Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington's closest international ally. But their treatment remains a politically charged issue at home, particularly among Britain's nearly two million Muslims, more so since other prisoners released from Guantanamo Bay have alleged that they were tortured or abused there. Lawyers said they should go free immediately. "It is inhumane and degrading treatment," said lawyer Louise Christian. "They have all been locked up for three years and two have been in solitary confinement for most of that time. "I have represented my clients for the best part of three years. But tonight is the first time I will get to meet and talk to them -- unfortunately it will be in a police station." The men -- Feroz Abbasi, Moazzam Begg, Richard Belmar and Martin Mubanga -- were whisked away in police vans to a London high security police station. Protesters jeered and chanted anti-Bush slogans outside the air base and the police station. "STRONG FEELINGS" "We have discussed this case with members of the Muslim community and recognize that there are strong feelings about the return of these men to the UK," police anti-terrorism branch chief Peter Clarke said. "But the fact is that we have an absolute duty on behalf of all communities to investigate the circumstances leading to the men's detention." Police said they held the men under a law governing "involvement in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." They have two weeks to charge or free the men, who will be allowed to meet lawyers and family at the jail. Washington says the men are potentially dangerous terrorists or sympathizers trained by al Qaeda, but never charged them with a crime. Their families say they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Five other UK detainees came home last year and were briefly held by police before being freed. But at the time Washington said the other four were more dangerous. The Pentagon said in a statement that Britain had "assured the U.S. government that the detainees will not pose a continuing security threat to the United States or its allies." Their lawyers said the men's further detention in Britain would add insult to injury. Moazzam Begg's father Azmat said he expected to see his son in jail in London Wednesday but feared for his state of mind. "I have got mixed feelings. I am not very excited for the simple reason that (he has suffered) mental torture for three years and I don't know what that has done to him. At the same time, I am happy my son is coming home," he said. Amnesty International urged the release of all detainees at Guantanamo, which it called "an icon of lawlessness." The United States says it has released or turned over to other countries 207 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. It says about 545 remain in custody, most of whom were captured during the war in Afghanistan in 2001-2002. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Lovell and Andrew Cawthorne)
Last UK Guantanamo Detainees Arrested on Return
Tue Jan 25, 2005 02:22 PM ET
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