JURIST - Paper Chase: UK residents released from Guantanamo detained on arrival

[JURIST] Three UK residents [JURIST news archive] released Wednesday from Guantanamo Bay were detained by UK authorities when they arrived in the UK later in the day. Libyan Omar Deghayes and Algerian Abdennour Sameur were arrested and Jordanian Jamil el Banna was detained under the UK Terrorism Act [text]. Deghayes and el-Banna may face extradition to Spain, although the British government has said that it will review the released men's immigration statuses to determine whether they may remain in the country. Two other UK residents [JURIST report] still remain at Guantanamo: Saudi Arabian Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, who is expected to return to his native country, and Ethiopian Binyam Mohammed al Habashi, who will stay in US custody. BBC News has more.

In August, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office [official website] asked the United States to release the five [press release; JURIST report], who were legal residents in the UK prior to their detention at Guantanamo. British officials under the government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had initially refused to seek the release of the British resident aliens held at Guantanamo Bay, and el Banna and Deghayes were among a group of detainees who lost a court bid [JURIST report] to force the UK government to lobby the US for their release. All UK nationals detained at Guantanamo were returned to the UK by January 2005.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...