Three "British" citizens are released from Guantanamo and then arrested by UK police
Three British residents must have been overjoyed when they were released from Guantanamo and returned to the UK - but that joy was short-lived as they were arrested by cops as soon as they arrived back on British soil. One of the men is also wanted by the Spanish....
'British' Guantanamo detainee returned to UK was 'member of al Qaeda terror cell'
20th December 2007
Daily Mail
A Guantanamo Bay inmate returned to Britain after five years was a member of an al Qaeda cell which distributed propaganda produced by Osama Bin Laden, a court heard today.
Jamil el-Banna, 45, who was granted bail at the hearing, is wanted by Spanish police for his alleged membership of the organisation between June 1996 and July 2001.
Melanie Cumberland, prosecuting, said: "His extradition is requested on one allegation that he was a member of the Spanish cell of al Qaeda in Spain. It was called the Islamic Alliance.
Jordanian Jamil el-Banna and Algerian Abdennour Samuer were arrested on arriving in the UK
"During the relevant period the cell prepared its members to travel to Afghanistan and Indonesia to fight Jihad. Members distributed propaganda, some produced by Osama Bin Laden. The allegation against this particular defendant was that he was a member of the cell."
Ms Cumberland said it was alleged that El-Banna was a friend of the cell's leader who is in custody in Spain. The defendant, with long hair and a beard, spoke only to confirm his name and his current address in Dollis Hill where he intends to live with his wife and five children.
Supporters packed the public gallery at City of Westminster magistrates' court.
UK resident Ethiopian Binyam Mohamed will remain at Guantanamo while Libyan Omar Deghayes has been freed
El-Banna was one of three prisoners who arrived at Luton airport last night after being released from the Cuban detention camp. Hewas immediately detained by counterterrorism police.
The other two, Omar Deghayes, 38, and Abdennour Sameur, 34, were taken to high-security Paddington Green police station. They are thought to have been arrested because of evidence that they were in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the time of the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Deghayes was released today but was rearrested moments later on a European warrant issued by the Spanish Government.
A Spanish investigating judge first requested El-Banna's extradition in 2004, alleging that he was a key associate of Abu Qatada, the extremist cleric described as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe".
The three British residents were held at Guantanamo
Spain is said also to be interested in Deghayes because he also allegedly appeared in a terrorist propaganda video.
The move has deeply worried the men's families and lawyers, who have complained they were held illegally for years without charge.
Their lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said he would fight any attempt to have his clients sent for trial in Spain.
He revealed he had previously tried to encourage a Spanish extradition request as a means of extracting the men from Guantanamo but said the authorities in Madrid never showed any interest.
He said: "It is very dismaying, this whole thing about Spain. For quite a long time, we tried to get the Spanish to demand their release because we thought it was an elegant way to get them out of Guantanamo. The Spanish weren't interested.
"I find it very sad and very dismaying. The fact that the Spanish were behind this wrongful detention in Guantanamo-Bay is something they should be ashamed of."
Unlike nine others earlier sent back to Britain from the camp, the three are not full British citizens. Three others with British links, Binyam Mohammed, Ahmed Belbacha and Shaker Aamer, remain in Guantanamo.
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• French police were today holding five men suspected of providing logistical support to the al Qaeda cell behind the bombing last week of UN offices in Algeria.
dailymail.co.uk
Three British residents must have been overjoyed when they were released from Guantanamo and returned to the UK - but that joy was short-lived as they were arrested by cops as soon as they arrived back on British soil. One of the men is also wanted by the Spanish....
'British' Guantanamo detainee returned to UK was 'member of al Qaeda terror cell'
20th December 2007
Daily Mail
A Guantanamo Bay inmate returned to Britain after five years was a member of an al Qaeda cell which distributed propaganda produced by Osama Bin Laden, a court heard today.
Jamil el-Banna, 45, who was granted bail at the hearing, is wanted by Spanish police for his alleged membership of the organisation between June 1996 and July 2001.
Melanie Cumberland, prosecuting, said: "His extradition is requested on one allegation that he was a member of the Spanish cell of al Qaeda in Spain. It was called the Islamic Alliance.
Jordanian Jamil el-Banna and Algerian Abdennour Samuer were arrested on arriving in the UK
"During the relevant period the cell prepared its members to travel to Afghanistan and Indonesia to fight Jihad. Members distributed propaganda, some produced by Osama Bin Laden. The allegation against this particular defendant was that he was a member of the cell."
Ms Cumberland said it was alleged that El-Banna was a friend of the cell's leader who is in custody in Spain. The defendant, with long hair and a beard, spoke only to confirm his name and his current address in Dollis Hill where he intends to live with his wife and five children.
Supporters packed the public gallery at City of Westminster magistrates' court.
UK resident Ethiopian Binyam Mohamed will remain at Guantanamo while Libyan Omar Deghayes has been freed
El-Banna was one of three prisoners who arrived at Luton airport last night after being released from the Cuban detention camp. Hewas immediately detained by counterterrorism police.
The other two, Omar Deghayes, 38, and Abdennour Sameur, 34, were taken to high-security Paddington Green police station. They are thought to have been arrested because of evidence that they were in Afghanistan and Pakistan at the time of the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Deghayes was released today but was rearrested moments later on a European warrant issued by the Spanish Government.
A Spanish investigating judge first requested El-Banna's extradition in 2004, alleging that he was a key associate of Abu Qatada, the extremist cleric described as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe".
The three British residents were held at Guantanamo
Spain is said also to be interested in Deghayes because he also allegedly appeared in a terrorist propaganda video.
The move has deeply worried the men's families and lawyers, who have complained they were held illegally for years without charge.
Their lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said he would fight any attempt to have his clients sent for trial in Spain.
He revealed he had previously tried to encourage a Spanish extradition request as a means of extracting the men from Guantanamo but said the authorities in Madrid never showed any interest.
He said: "It is very dismaying, this whole thing about Spain. For quite a long time, we tried to get the Spanish to demand their release because we thought it was an elegant way to get them out of Guantanamo. The Spanish weren't interested.
"I find it very sad and very dismaying. The fact that the Spanish were behind this wrongful detention in Guantanamo-Bay is something they should be ashamed of."
Unlike nine others earlier sent back to Britain from the camp, the three are not full British citizens. Three others with British links, Binyam Mohammed, Ahmed Belbacha and Shaker Aamer, remain in Guantanamo.
************************************************
• French police were today holding five men suspected of providing logistical support to the al Qaeda cell behind the bombing last week of UN offices in Algeria.
dailymail.co.uk