Terror pays: Last British jihadi in Guantanamo in line for £1 million payout

Terror pays.
Jihad pays.
Obama say, “respect it.”
Obama say, “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”

Those who speak candidly about jihad and sharia risk prosecution. Our names are destroyed and libeled.
Those who wage jihad get a mullion bucks. And get to whine about “islamophobia.” Whack and whine. Kill and cry.

“Last British prisoner in Guantanamo in line for £1 million payout,” The telegraph, February 8, 2015

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The US has previously claimed Shaker Aamer commanded a unit of Osama bin Laden’s fighters in Afghanistan who fought coalition force

Mr Aamer, inset, was cleared for transfer out of the base in June 2007 Photo: AFP/PA

By Robert Mendick, and Peter Foster in Washington

The last British detainee to be released from Guantanamo is in line for a £1 million payment from the UK government – despite claims of his terror links to al-Qaeda in official US documents.

Shaker Aamer, a father-of-four, has languished in Guantanamo for an astonishing 13 years, seven years longer than any other British citizen or resident. The campaign to ensure his release has been stepped up in recent months with David Cameron raising his plight on a trip to the White House in January. Barack Obama promised in return to “prioritise the case” and Aamer has been cleared for release.

Aamer, a Saudi Arabian citizen, had been living in London prior to travelling to Afghanistan with his family in 2001. He insists he went there to open a school and run a charity while the US authorities have accused him of being a senior al-Qaeda figure, who acted as a ‘special interpreter’ for Osama bin Laden, was trained in the handling of explosives, and with had alleged links to terror networks both in the UK and US.

His wife and four children – one of whom he has never met – are now back in south London, awaiting his release.

When he is finally freed, Aamer will be entitled to a compensation payment of about £1 million. Similar sums were given to other British detainees of Guantanamo in a scheme agreed by the Government to head off what it believed would be costly and embarrassing court cases that would drag UK intelligence services into the dock.

• Shaker Aamer willing to be ‘a martyr’

 

The settlements were announced by Kenneth Clarke, then Justice Secretary, in November 2010. The details have been kept confidential but the payouts are widely accepted to have amounted to £1 million for each detainee, including UK residents as well as those with British citizenship. The Foreign Office refused last week to discuss any possible payout to Aamer, but the legal precedent set five years ago will make it impossible to resist any claim he makes.

His lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said: “He hasn’t got any money and he can’t do anything while he is locked up.”

But opponents of the payments scheme are questioning whether Aamer should be given compensation. A 15-page US Department of Defense memorandum, leaked on the internet, details a string of allegations against him. Aamer’s lawyers have dismissed the claims as a ‘pack of lies’ but an independent think tank has suggested that giving Aamer a pay off will be of “great embarrassment”.

Robin Simcox, a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a neoconservative think tank, and author of Islamist Terrorism: The British Connections, said: “The Government agreed a settlement with the Guantánamo detainees because it feared a lengthy litigation process could reveal secret intelligence and damage national security.

“Yet – as the Aamer case shows – the consequences of the Government choosing not to fight its corner and simply cutting a deal are hugely damaging. It should be a source of great embarrassment to the Government that Aamer will earn more for his time in Afghanistan than any British soldier ever did.”

The think tank, founded by a group of influential foreign policy analysts, has argued that the US dossier, dating back to November 2007, raised serious questions over Aamer’s insistence of innocence. Mr Simcox said: “The US government has clearly had a multitude of good reasons to detain Shaker Aamer. His connections to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and other jihadists are well established, and the charities that Aamer said he worked for are known to be al-Qaeda support groups.

“Aamer’s formidable reputation among the other detainees at Guantanamo Bay shows that he remains highly influential. There is far more to Aamer than the benign image his supporters portray.”

Aamer has never faced any charges and has finally been cleared for release, although it is claimed the US authorities would prefer to send him back to Saudi Arabia, where he was born, rather than London.

Mr Stafford Smith, founder of the human rights charity Reprieve, said the claims made by the US were defamatory. Last week, he visited Aamer in detention and spoke of their frustration that his client had still to be freed despite the fact he was now listed for release.

Mr Stafford Smith said: “They have made more stuff up about Shaker as time has gone on. The Americans have no meaningful allegations against Shaker. That is best proven by the fact he has been cleared for release by two different groups, once by Bush and once by Obama.”

 

He said Aamer had been singled out for continued detention because he had refused to obey the prison guards in Guantanamo. “The reason they hate him is he is oppositional and non compliant with all their rules,” he said, adding: “the allegations are totally false. Shaker arrived in Afghanistan in late June 2001 and they [the US] say he is Osama bin Laden’s translator. He was only there two months and had never been in Afghanistan before. I have considered bringing a defamation case against the US based on that document.”The Defense department document claims Aamer was close to a number of radicals in the UK before first visiting Afghanistan in 1998 – a claim Mr Stafford Smith says can be easily disproved. It goes on to allege he fought with bin Laden in the Tora Bora region as an al-Qaeda sub-commander following the coalition invasion.Aamer has attracted widespread support in recent years. Celebrity backers of a campaign to secure his release include Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, TV presenter Janet Ellis and her singer daughter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and the actress Juliet Stevenson.

The UK has already taken back 14 former Guantanamo residents but the release of Aamer remains on ice. Sources have suggested when it does happen, it will take place with no advanced warning, meaning he could be set free at any time in the coming weeks.

Last week, Lt. Col. Myles B. Caggins III, Defense Department spokesman for detainee policy, told The Telegraph: “The Defense Department will continue to work to identify responsible opportunities to resettle and repatriate detainees approved for transfer in accordance with the rigorous review process that was put in place in 2009 and in a manner that protects our nationals security and is consistent with our post-transfer humane treatment policies.

“Shaker Aamer is among the 54 detainees eligible for transfer. I do not have a timeline on when particular detainees will be transferred from Guantanamo. However, the Defense Department is committed to reducing the detainee population and to closing the detention facility responsibly.”

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Rick Smith

9 years ago

Perhaps with his new found money he can build a, right proper, bomb to thank his English friends with. Not that it would open the eyes of the quislings one iota. Too bad for the courageous regular folk.

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disqus_HlH4Faibhw

9 years ago

The future must ALWAYS being to those who slander the ‘prophet’ of islam. Just like it belongs to Bill Maher who ridicules religion. And to everyone who criticizes the Pope. It’s called “freedom of speech”, Mr. President. Remember???

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peterliberal

9 years ago

A bullet to the head would be more justified

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Russ

9 years ago

Reply to  peterliberal

Yep! A 10 cent bullet would have solved the whole thing.

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Russ

9 years ago

Wow! What LOSERS we have in control of our governments.

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Russ

9 years ago

Liberals are people who drill a hole in the bottom of a boat to let the water out and are the first to take the life jackets.

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rodulfo-tardo

9 years ago

A .22 CALIBER LR COATED IN BACON FAT AND BURIAL IN PIG WASTE TO PROPERLY MARTYR THESE ISLAMOCODOMITES LEAVE NO METHOD UNTOUCHED.

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