Shaker Aamer has been released after 14 years of incarceration at Guantánamo Bay, where he was beaten by his US military jailers but never tried for any offence, the UK’s foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has confirmed. “The Americans announced some weeks ago that they were going to release Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo and I can confirm that he is on his way back to the UK now and he will arrive in Britain later today,” he said. A spokesman for David Cameron – who had personally raised Aamer’s case with Barack Obama – said there were no plans to detain Aamer on his return. He added: “The prime minister has been clear that the public should be reassured that everything to ensure public safety is in place.” While it is unclear where Aamer will be taken on arrival, he has told his lawyers that he wants first to be given a thorough medical examination, and then wishes to see his wife. He has said that he wants to discuss his children with his wife before meeting them. His is the latest sign that the Obama administration is starting to take swifter steps to shut down the prison. Aamer’s detention had become a growing source of tension between the United States and Britain, where officials have long pressed for his release. A group of British lawmakers was baffled when a round of meetings with Obama administration officials and senators last spring did not yield a breakthrough in the case. Aamer has been cleared for release since 2007. His departure came a day after the American military repatriated another Guantanamo inmate, Ahmed Ould Abdel Aziz, to Mauritania. The two men are among a handful of detainees who have been freed in recent weeks, following a months-long period during which the Pentagon withheld final authorization for releases. As of Friday afternoon, there were 52 inmates at Guantanamo cleared for release. There were also 60 who are either facing charges in military tribunals, or have been deemed too dangerous to free. The White House said in July that it would soon present to Congress a detailed plan outlining how it intends to make good on President Obama’s 2008 campaign promise to shut down the prison. Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has indicated that he is willing to work collaboratively with the White House. Disappointingly, the administration has not yet to put forward its plan.
pk.shafaqna.com
