Downing Street Says » Guantanamo Bay

» Monday, February 23, 2004

Guantanamo Bay

Asked if there would be a Parliamentary statement on the release of the five detainees, the PMOS said that it was not impossible Jack Straw would reprise his statement of last week to the House. Clearly he was in Brussels today.

Asked why it was taking a while to transfer prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to the UK, the PMOS said as we had acknowledged over many weeks. There were real issues of detail which had to be worked through. Some of those issues were still being processed, so he could not be any clearer concerning the timing of the return. As the Foreign Secretary had said last week, both the UK and the US had agreed that five people would be returned within the next few weeks. There had been very detailed discussion between the two administrations and it was a very complex process. Asked if they would be taken into custody as soon as they got back, the PMOS said it would be for the police to consider what the appropriate procedures should be. It was a matter for the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service, and best left to them.

Asked if the Prime Minister shared the view of President Bush that these were “bad people”, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister believed that these were individuals who were picked up in a particularly unique situation – post 9-11-2001 and in Afghanistan. There had been discussion between the UK and the US in relation to how they were dealt with. We had always been clear that they should be tried in accordance with international standards or returned to the UK. The Prime Minister was pleased that the issue was being resolved in respect of these five individuals. Asked if the Prime Minister regarded them as innocent, the PMOS said that that was a matter for the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

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