London silent on report Guantanamo Bay Britons to head home

Saturday, January 10, 2004

LONDON, England (AFP): London refused to be drawn Friday on reports that Washington may within weeks repatriate some of the nine Britons held at a US base in Cuba, even without a guarantee that they will face trial in Britain.

"The position remains as set out by the prime minister" Wednesday, when Tony Blair told parliament he hoped to make an announcement "shortly" on the fate of Britons held at the Guantanamo Bay military camp, a Downing Street spokesman told AFP.

The Times newspaper reported that Washington had softened its demand that the detainees, picked up in the United States' so-called war on terror, should face prosecution or indefinite detention if they are returned to Britain.

British officials predicted that negotiations with Washington on the prisoners' future could be completed "within weeks or a few months", according to Friday's edition of the London daily.

The paper reported the US ambassador at large for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, as saying detainees could be repatriated if Britain was able to "manage" them after their return.

It was not immediately clear what form this "management" would have to take. It could mean prosecution or detention.

According to The Times, officials indicated it could also mean surveillance by British police rather than a trial.

"We are not asking for absolutes," Prosper was reported as saying. "We are not asking for a guaranteed conviction.

"It depends on the individual. We are asking that they be detained and investigated and/or prosecuted.

"But it is not just a blanket request we have put in. What makes it much more complex is that we have to have these discussions on each individual," he added.

A lawyer for one of the British detainees said Prosper's comments indicated that London, and not Washington, was responsible for preventing the Britons' return.

Louise Christian, who represents the family of detainee Feroz Abbasi, said: "I'm afraid the fear is that it's our own Home Secretary who is the obstacle.

"David Blunkett is fearful that the public mood may change or that he will be criticised if they can't be prosecuted" in Britain, she said.

About 660 people from 42 countries, most of them captured in Afghanistan, are being held in Guantanamo Bay as part of the US campaign against terrorism in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

The United States has refused to grant them prisoner of war status and has reserved the right to keep them in detention without trial, provoking outrage among human rights groups.

As negotiations between London and Washington continue, Blair has come under pressure to secure the repatriation of the nine British detainees.

Ahead of the second anniversary Sunday of the initial transfer of prisoners to the military jail, a US base in otherwise communist Cuba, human rights group Amnesty International sent a letter to Downing Street, urging Blair to "end this travesty of justice".

The group's director for Britain, Kate Allen, said: "We have urged that he calls on the US government to ensure legal representation and fair trials are the bottom line, not just for the nine Britons in Guantanamo Bay but for all detainees held without charge or trial."

Allen added: "As a former lawyer himself, Mr Blair must surely realise that Guantanamo Bay is nothing short of a disgrace and basic human rights need to be restored." 

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