Shaker Aamer release is delayed ‘for visit by American politicians’
THE release of the last Briton in Guantanamo has been postponed to appease hardline US politicians visiting the camp, it was claimed last night.
Shaker Aamer, 46, ought to have been flown to his family in London yesterday following a 30-day consultation period granted to Congress.
For his wife Zin and four teenage children, the agony was prolonged when they heard he will not be freed until later this week at the earliest.
With all hurdles cleared between Washington and London, his lawyers believe his release was delayed to avoid offending powerful Republicans on a tour of Guantanamo Bay.
They include New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte, a critic of President Obama’s plans to close the camp and repatriate the 114 prisoners or transfer them to military jails on the US mainland.
She claims the move would be a threat to US security, citing intelligence figures suggesting about 30 per cent of released detainees engage in or are suspected of terrorist activities.
An independent study by a leading US university puts the figure at just 6 per cent.
‘The last thing men and women in uniform should be facing is an enemy combatant who was just released,’ Senator Ayotte said before the visit. She was joined by Senator Tim Scott, who is fiercely against a proposal to rehouse some detainees at a military prison in Kansas – the state he represents. He said: ‘How is it a good idea ever to bring an enemy combatant to American soil unnecessarily?’
Mr Aamer’s lawyer Clive Stafford Smith criticised the delay, after detention for almost 14 years without trial, saying: ‘They obviously think it would be an embarrassment to send Shaker home while they are doing this propaganda tour for Ms Ayotte and these other proGuantanamo politicians … It is grossly unfair … to prolong his ordeal in this way.’
Mr Aamer’s father-in-law Saeed Siddique said: ‘We are still confident he will be back in the next week or so, and we just appreciate the efforts of your newspaper and other campaigners to return him to us.’