U.S. to release four Britons, Australian held in Cuba

LONDON — The United States has agreed to release the four remaining British citizens who have been held as suspected terrorists without charge or trial at Guantánamo Bay for more than two years, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the House of Commons yesterday.

The release of the four follows months of what Straw described as "intense and complex discussions" with American officials over U.S. security concerns about the men, including direct discussions between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush.

The U.S. Defense Department said the British government had accepted responsibility for the conduct of the detainees after their release. The Pentagon also said it would release an Australian national.

The men, who have alleged they have been mistreated in detention, have been the focus of a long human-rights campaign here and a symbol for people who argue that the Bush administration has violated international law in its war on terrorism. Nearly 550 detainees remain at Guantánamo.

Blair, who is the Bush administration's staunchest foreign ally, has continually defended the detention of the men, even while negotiating for their freedom. But other members of Blair's government, including Straw and Attorney General Peter Goldsmith, have publicly declared that the military tribunals that the Bush administration established for the detainees did not meet international standards of fairness.

Five British nationals were released from Guantánamo last March and returned to their homes here after a brief interrogation by police. U.S. authorities have insisted until now that the four remaining Britons posed more of a potential terrorist threat.

Those being released include Feroz Abbasi, 24, a London resident whom a U.S. military panel last fall ruled was an al-Qaida member who had volunteered for a suicide mission. Abbasi, who was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001, denied the allegation. He was not allowed to have a lawyer at the hearing.

The others are: Moazzam Begg, 36, a teacher from Birmingham, England; and London residents Richard Belmar, 25, and Martin Mubanga, 31.

Also to be released is Australian Mamdouh Habib, 48, who has been held at Guantánamo Bay for three years on suspicion of aiding al-Qaida and who alleges he was tortured while in custody. Australia's Attorney General Philip Ruddock said it was unlikely Habib would be charged on his return to Australia.

"The United States government has now advised that it does not intend to bring charges against Mr. Habib," Ruddock said. "In these circumstances, the government has requested Mr. Habib's repatriation to Australia (and) the United States has agreed to our request."

Information about Australian Mamdouh Habib was provided by The Associated Press.