Release
The British government protested the Guantánamo tribunals, because due process rights were sharply limited. On 11 January 2005, the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced that after "intensive and complex discussions" between the U.S. and the British government, the four British citizens remaining in Guantanamo Bay would be returned to Britain "within weeks". While they were still regarded as "enemy combatants" by the U.S. government, no specific charges had been brought against them.
Bush released Begg as a favor to Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was being harshly criticized for his support of the Iraq war, reported The New York Times (based on information from U.S. officials it did not name) and CNN.
On 25 January 2005, Begg and the three other British citizen detainees (Feroz Abbasi, Martin Mubanga, and Richard Belmar) were flown back to RAF Northolt in west London, the U.K. on an RAF aircraft. On arrival they were arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police, and taken to Paddington Green police station for questioning under the Terrorism Act 2000 by anti-terrorist officers. By 9 pm on 26 January, all four had been released without charge.
Read more about this topic: Moazzam Begg
Famous quotes containing the word release:
“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
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