Ex-Guantanamo inmate tastes freedom

12 April 2012

Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Binyam Mohamed is enjoying his first full day of freedom after being held at the US jail in Cuba for more than four years.

The Ethiopian-born British resident had an emotional reunion with his sister as he was released from RAF Northolt shortly before 6pm on Monday.

He had arrived there five hours earlier and was detained under border control rules which are part of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Mr Mohamed's lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said he had just seen his sister for the first time in seven years.

Mr Stafford Smith said Mr Mohamed, 30, was "extremely grateful" to be allowed into Britain, and added: "He's not angry, he's sad. He's lost seven years of his life.

"He's just extremely happy now. He comes out of Guantanamo extremely grateful for all the support that he's had in a very dark time."

Mr Mohamed had been held at the controversial US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since September 2004.

He alleges he was tortured into falsely confessing to terrorist activities and claims MI5 officers were complicit in his abuse.

The Government requested his release and a team of British officials went to Guantanamo Bay recently to check he was well enough to travel back to the UK.

Ethiopian-born Mr Mohamed, who lived in London before his arrest in Pakistan in 2002, plans to spend the next few days with his family and legal team.

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