UK investigates Guantanamo five
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Inmates have been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2001.
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LONDON, England -- British anti-terrorism police have started an investigation into five Britons to be freed from the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after being held without trial for two years.
London and Washington announced on Thursday that the five would be sent back to the United Kingdom in the next few weeks and could be freed on their arrival.
Four other Britons will remain at the camp, set up in January 2002 to hold combatants captured in Afghanistan, or those with alleged links to al Qaeda.
Most of the detainees, who are considered terrorism suspects by Washington, were captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Washington says the prisoners are "enemy combatants" who have no right to lawyers. The U.S. government has been interrogating the detainees and deciding whether they will face military tribunals or be released.
UK Home Office Minister David Blunkett said none of those to be released was considered a security threat, but police said they were launching an investigation to see whether the men should be charged with offences under anti-terrorism laws on their return.
"We have a responsibility to all communities to investigate suspected terrorist activity which includes all the circumstances which led to the men's detention," Peter Clarke, head of UK police's anti-terror branch, told Reuters.
"Despite the unusual circumstances these investigations will be carried out, as they must be, strictly in accordance with UK law."
Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who announced their return on Thursday, said he would make no predictions about the likelihood of the men eventually facing trial.
Observers say that under British law it could be difficult to try the suspects since evidence obtained while they were held without access to lawyers would generally not be admissible in court.
Straw said they could be taken into custody on their arrival. The police will consider whether to arrest them under the Terrorism Act 2000 "for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity," he said.
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair recently said he expected the detainees' legal status to be clarified within weeks but warned they would not be allowed back to Britain if they posed a terror risk.
The U.S. State Department also announced Thursday it would release one Danish national to the Danish government.
Last week, the United States returned a Spanish citizen held at Guantanamo Bay to Spain for prosecution in what a senior U.S. official said was the first transfer of its kind.
And an Australian terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay should be sent home for trial, his U.S. military lawyer said Friday. (Full story)
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two legal appeals over whether the detainees are being held unlawfully. It would be the first time the justices review the constitutionality of the White House's war on terror laws that followed the September 11 attacks.
The court will hear arguments sometime early this year, with a ruling expected by June. (Full story)
