Give Blair an amnesty so we can find out ‘the truth’, says Aamer

SHAKER AAMER, the last British resident held at Guantánamo Bay, has said Tony Blair should be granted an amnesty from prosecution over his actions in the “war on terror”.

Mr Aamer is calling for a public inquiry into alleged British collusion in torture, but urged that politicians and officials from the former prime minister downwards should be granted immunity to encourage the “truth” to come out.

Mr Aamer – held without charge in Afghanistan and then at the US military facility in Cuba – said he was brutalised by US interrogators in front of men who told him they were from MI5.

“The only thing I want to find out is the truth behind what happened,” Mr Aamer told ITV News in an interview to be broadcast today. He added: “What’s the truth behind Guantánamo? What’s the truth right now behind all what’s happening right now in the world?

“I think accusing governments, accusing individuals, is not going to give us the chance to know the truth.

“Because everybody is going to be scared, even Tony Blair. I believe he is scared right now to go behind bars. George Bush is going to be scared.”

Asked if he believed Mr Blair could be persuaded to speak entirely openly about British-US activities, Mr Aamer said: “If guaranteed that he would not be behind bars, I think he would.”

He has claimed Mr Blair must have known he was being tortured during 14 years in US detention.

Mr Aamer, 48, who returned to Britain six weeks ago after being released, claimed that Mr Blair visited Bagram air force base in Afghanistan in 2002 on the same flight as British officials who later witnessed the Saudi-born British resident being beaten. The father-of-four also delivered a message to extremists living in Britain.

He said: “Even if there is a war you cannot kill just anybody, you cannot kill kids, you cannot kill chaplains, you cannot just go in the street and get a knife and start stabbing people. If you are that angry about this country, you can get the hell out.”

Mr Aamer has insisted he was in Afghanistan in 2001 to make a better life for his family where food and property were cheap. A spokesman for Mr Blair said he “has always been opposed to the use of torture”.