The British government on Tuesday asked the United States to
release five British residents being held in the US military prison
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a statement, British Foreign Office said that Foreign
Secretary and Home Secretary had decided to request the release
from Guantanamo Bay and return to Britain of five men.
The five have been named as Shaker Aamer, Jami El Banna, Omar
Deghayes, Binyam Mohamed and Abdennour Sameur.
The Foreign Office said British government "welcomes recent
steps taken by the US government to reduce the numbers of those
detained at Guantanamo Bay and to move towards the closure the
detention facility."
"Discussions with the US government about the release and return
of these five men may take some time," the statement said. "The
government will of course continue to take all necessary measures
to maintain national security."
The request is a change of policy for British government which
had previously said it could not intercede for non-British
citizens.
The new British government under Gordon Brown seems willing to
be more flexible in its conduct of the "war on terror" declared by
US President George W. Bush.
"The situation has now changed and the Foreign Secretary and
Home Secretary have reviewed the government's approach in light of
these circumstances," the statement said.
The five are not British nationals but had been granted refugee
status, indefinite leave or exceptional leave to remain before they
were detained at the Guantanamo Bay center.
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2007)
