Terror alert on freed UK suspects

The Sunday Times (U.K.) ^ | 08/12/07 | Dipesh Gadher

[Pokey78]

THE Pentagon has claimed that five terror suspects whom Britain wants back from Guantanamo Bay have close ties to some of Al-Qaeda’s most high-ranking leaders.

Only days after Gordon Brown took the surprise decision to call for their release, a senior American official this weekend disclosed previously classified evidence to show that the men are “extremely dangerous individuals”.

Sandra Hodgkinson, who is in charge of US detention policy, warned that the suspects may seek to rejoin the war on terror and could pose a risk to the UK if not kept under close scrutiny.

In a fresh series of allegations against the men, Hodgkinson claimed that:

— One of them had been an interpreter for Osama Bin Laden and was funded by the Al-Qaeda chief while living in Afghanistan.

— Another detainee had “a long-term association” with Abu Musab al-Zar-qawi, the ex-leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

— A third suspect is a “jihadi veteran” with links to a Moroccan terrorist jailed for 18 years over the 2003 Casablanca bombings.

Britain originally refused to take back the men, none of whom are British, but who have residency rights. The U-turn has prompted criticism and the new claims will increase pressure on ministers to enforce a tough security regime when the men return.

The suspects’ lawyers have dismissed many of the allegations as “fantasy” and claim the Pentagon is smearing their clients to justify their incarceration at Guantanamo.

Hodgkinson, deputy assistant secretary of defence for detainee affairs, said: “Among these men are some extremely dangerous individuals . . . if they are sent back to the United Kingdom they could pose a risk.

“Because of some of the extensive ties these individuals have with well-known Al-Qaeda [leaders], we have concerns that they will try to reconnect with some of their old counterparts and return to the fight in the sense that they will try to carry out attacks, whether it’s in England or elsewhere.”

Although ministers may place the men on control orders - a form of house arrest - an initial US request to watch them round-the-clock is believed to have been rejected as too costly.

Reading from newly declassified files, Hodgkinson alleged Shaker Aamer, 38, a Saudi national granted leave to remain in Britain, had lived in Afghanistan on a “stipend” provided by Bin Laden and had acted, according to an unidentified source, as an interpreter for the terrorist leader.

Aamer is also alleged to have “ties” with Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s No 2, and was “personally associated” with individuals who plotted an attack on parliament in 2005.

Jamil el-Banna, 44, a Jordanian citizen, is alleged to have had “a long-term association” with al-Zarqawi when the two men lived in their native country. Al-Zarqawi became Al-Qaeda’s chief in Iraq and was behind the murder of Ken Bigley, the British engineer.

The Pentagon alleged that another suspect, Omar Deghayes, 37, a Libyan, is a “jihadi veteran” of the Bosnian war and has links to Salaheddine Benyaich, a leader of the Casablanca suicide bombings that killed 45 people. “He has direct connections to Al-Qaeda operatives in Europe,” his file states.

Clive Stafford Smith, who represents the men, said: “This is a blatant attempt to smear my clients.”

[angkor]

Just one more conundrum in “The Patty-Cake Against Terror”.

[livius]

The Patty-Cake Against Terror

LOL. Sort of. When are we going to get serious about this?

[ThreePuttinDude]

I'd have to say, let them go, with the news head lines that read something like:

Released Gitmo prisoners returned to the UK, after spilling their guts, and giving
information leading to future arrests and attacks on Islamic muslim pig kissers.

[1066AD]

It’s hard to understand the u-turn by UK unless Gordon Brown is throwing a bone to his left to keep them quiet.

I think this guy gets it right: http://tinyurl.com/2a65no

[madison10]

What you said. From tinyurl:

...All had been granted the right to remain here after arriving as asylum seekers. But when they were picked up, they were thousands of miles away in, variously, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Gambia....

...They are not British "residents", they are residents of Guantanamo Bay and have been for the past five years.

And as far as I'm concerned, they can stay there until they rot.