TERRORISMO:
GUANTANAMO; GB RINUNCIA A BATTAGLIA PER DETENUTI
LONDRA,
- I ministri di Londra si sono rassegnati alla prospettiva che i due britannici detenuti a
Guantanamo non potranno essere rimpatriati per essere processati e saranno dunque costretti ad affrontare il tribunale militare
americano nel campo Usa a Cuba. E' quanto scrive oggi il quotidiano The Guardian, osservando che le barriere legali per
un compromesso politico del genere sembrano essere insormontabili.
La vicenda rischia pero' di mettere seriamente in
imbarazzo il premier Tony Blair, in partenza questa settimana per Washington, sempre piu' sotto pressione da parte della famiglia
di uno dei due uomini e dell'opinione pubblica.
I britannici (Moazzam Begg e Feroz Abbasi) sono tra i sei
prigionieri - trattenuti da 18 mesi nel carcere americano senza poter comunicare con nessuno - che dovranno affrontare per primi
un tribunale militare. Se dovessero dichiararsi non colpevoli, rischiano la pena di morte per presunti reati terroristici.
Un ex ministro britannico, definito dal quotodiano come
vicino all' Amministrazione americana, ha dichiarato che Washington gli ha spiegato di non poter rimandare i detenuti nel
Regno Unito perche' li' ''non ci sono le leggi per perseguirli'' e ''non siamo disposti a lasciarli
andare''.
BRITAIN:
Brit
suspects stay in Guantanamo
Britain
has abandoned attempts to have its suspects detained by US authorities
at Guantanamo Bay repatriated to Britain to stand trial, the Guardian
newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Senior
ministers believed the legal barriers to trial in Britain were
insurmountable, the left-liberal newspaper said without naming the
sources for its information.
It
said the outcome was an embarrassment to Prime Minister Tony Blair who
leaves for the United States on Thursday to hold talks with President
George W Bush and to address a joint session of Congress.
There
have been reports in the British media that US officials had
considered repatriating two British al-Qaeda suspects earmarked for
trial by a US military tribunal, but that discussions had come to
nothing because of the lack of an appropriate law under which they
could be prosecuted.
An
English court could also query why the men had been held for so long
without appearing before a court or having access to lawyers of their
own choice.
According
to the Guardian, a former minister with close military and political
contacts in the United States was adamant he was told in Washington:
"We would be happy to send these guys back, but you have no law
to prosecute them. We are not going to just let them go."
Last
week Blair's office said it was holding discussions with the US over
Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg, two British Muslims seized in
Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively and held at the high security
base in Cuba.
Abbasi
and Begg are among 6 Britons held at the base.
They
are among the 1st group, which includes Australian David Hicks, who
will face a military tribunal which has the power to impose the death
penalty.
Begg,
35, was detained in Pakistan in February 2002 and held in Afghanistan
for a year before being taken to the base in Cuba.
Abbasi,
22, was arrested in Afghanistan in January 2002.
Blair
has come under pressure regarding the men from members of his own
Labour Party. More than 200 members of parliament from all parties
have signed a motion calling for the men to be given a fair trial.
On
Monday, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw renewed his call for the
suspected British terrorists to be given a fair trial.
"It
is not acceptable for them to be tried if they are not given basic
principles of human rights and fair trial," he said.
Straw
said discussions with the US authorities "about a range of
options" were continuing, ranging from trial in Britain through
to trial by military commission if it was consistent with the "rules
of justice and human rights".
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