Afternoon:
15°c
Vital US intelligence tip-offs 'could dry up after Binyam ruling'
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor27 Jan 2012
The flow of "valuable" intelligence information to Britain from America has been damaged because of a court ruling on former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed, the Government's terror watchdog warned today.
David Anderson QC was in "no doubt" that fewer tip-offs from the CIA and other US intelligence sources were being shared with the UK, and that the supply might dry up further.
It was "of the highest importance" that legal changes were introduced to address the problem, said Mr Anderson, the independent reviewer of counter-terrorism legislation. The sharing of information was "vital to our national security".
Born in Ethiopia, Mr Mohamed, 33, lived in North Kensington after seeking asylum in the UK. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and held for seven years, suspected by the US of fighting alongside the Taliban in Pakistan. All charges were dropped in 2009.
In 2010, the Court of Appeal ordered the release of US intelligence material given to Britain on the understanding that it would not be made public. It showed Mr Mohamed had been subject to "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment in Pakistan, and that British officials were told of the abuse.
Ministers warned at the time that publication would breach the key "control principle" of intelligence-sharing under which governments agree not to publish information given in confidence by allies, and lead to less material being sent to Britain from the US.
Mr Anderson today backed Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's moves to limit the impact of the ruling through legal changes restricting release of secret information. Civil liberties campaigners claim Mr Clarke's plans would let further human rights abuses be hidden.
Reader views (7)
If he was a "so called" asylum seeker, what was he doing in Pakistan. I didn't know asslym seekers could travel. Also, he wasn't as Joel said a British citizen, just somebody we took in. I think there was more to him that meets the eye. Perhaps it would have been better if we just turned him around at the airport back to Ethopia.
- margaretw, London, 30/01/2012 10:53
Report abuse
I don't believe for a minute that this man is innocent. Why was he in a Pakistan ? You would think that having been accepted as a genuine asylum seeker in UK he would have been content to stay there and be a useful member of our multicultural society. Are we to believe that the Americans just picked him up off the street in Pakistan for not reason.
- trooper909, London, 28/01/2012 17:57
Report abuse
I'm not sure I quite understand this. The US is going to stop talking to us because we publish the fact that they torture innocent British civilians? We should be seeking the instigators of this torture and seek their extradition............oh sorry we only extradite to the USA, how silly!
- joel, LONDON, 27/01/2012 13:25
Report abuse
Tin Foil Hat - Could not agree more! The sooner our self serving politicians understand that they have been elected to represent the interests of the UK, rather, than being grubby agents of the USA, or, worse still, 'friends of Israel' the better!
- Kevin Sullivan, London., 27/01/2012 12:50
Report abuse
The Americans will share information that they think is in their interests to share, no more and no less. We should not attempt to buy intelligence by condoning or colloding with a government that practices torture and imprisons indefinitely without trial
- Al, London, 27/01/2012 12:48
Report abuse
So what? The USA tells more lies than the Brits and Israel put together.
- Tin Foil Hat, London UK, 27/01/2012 12:37
Report abuse
Perhaps the the US can see we have a neo liberal government that are the laughing stock of the world as they are ruled by the tax payer funded human rights industry .
- another view, london, 27/01/2012 12:24
Report abuse
