THE last British resident to be held in Guantanamo Bay is to be released after more than 13 years in detention without charge.
The US government formally notified the UK authorities that they would be returning Shaker Aamer, the 46-year-old Saudi national, to Britain.
Successive British governments had pressed for his return after he was originally cleared for release in 2007. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn were among the prominent MPs who campaigned for his freedom.
David Cameron – who raised his case on a number of occasions with Barack Obama – was told of the decision in a telephone call with the US President.
Mr Aamer will not however leave Guantanamo immediately, as the US administration has to give Congress 30 days notice of his release.
A senior US defence official said the decision to return him to the UK had been approved by defence secretaryAshton Carter following “robust security assurances” from the British Government. British officials would not comment on the conditions surrounding his release although it is understood he will be subject to monitoring by the security services.
Mr Aamer, who has a wife and four children living in Battersea, south London, has said he was originally seized by bounty hunters while working as a charity worker in Afghanistan in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 attacks.
He was handed over to US forces and in February 2002 was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay facility on Cuba accused of having aided al Qaida.
His lawyers say he was subjected to torture, beatings, sleep deprivation and held in solitary confinement for 360 days.
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