Guantánamo inmate and British resident Binyam Mohamed is said to be sent home to the UK within a short time. The student from West London went on hunger strike on 5 January and is in a very weak physical condition. Trying to avoid a British fatality US authorities have pressed ahead with negotiations.
Mohamed says he was tortured to confess his identity as an al-Qaeda terrorist. After being detained in Pakistan in 2002 he claims to have been secretly flown to Morocco and tortured, then moved to Afghanistan and finally to Guantánamo in September 2004. Although all terror charges against him were dropped last year, he remained in detention. Up to now it is still unclear whether MI5 knew of the torture, as the Foreign Office blocks the disclosure of CIA files about the incident.
A team of British officials went to see Binyam Mohamed on 14 February. After a doctor declared him well enough to fly, US president Obama now needs to clear him for release before Mohamed can return home.
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