Shaker Aamer Lands In Britain After 13 Years Being Held In Guantanamo Bay
Shaker Aamer Lands In Britain After 13 Years In Guantanamo
Jack Sommers— The Huffington Post UK
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Shaker Aamer has landed in the UK after 5,006 days of detention without trial in Guantanamo Bay.
The 46-year-old was the last Briton being held at the detention camp, where he had been imprisoned since February, 2002.
He was cleared for release in 2007 but not freed until yesterday. He was flown by a Gulfstream Grumman-G1159 from the camp in Cuba to London's Biggin Hill airport, where the world's press was waiting to meet him, landing at 12.58pm.
His is expected to undergo a medical examination before he is reunited with his wife and four children.
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London
Story continues beneath slideshow
Shaker Aamer Returns To UK
(01 of12)
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An ambulance leaves Biggin Hill airport, south east London, after a plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, landed at the airport. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
(02 of12)
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An ambulance leaves Biggin Hill airport, south east London, after a plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, landed at the airport. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
(03 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
(04 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
(05 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
(06 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
(07 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
(08 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Briton in Guantanamo Bay(09 of12)
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A plane believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, arrives at Biggin Hill airport in south east London. (credit:Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Guantanamo Detainee Plea(10 of12)
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Collect pic of Shaker Aamer with two of his children, son Michael and daughter Johninh. Shaker Aamer is detained in Guantanamo Bay and the family calling for Jack Straw to intervene at a press conference in London today. (credit:Michael Stephens/PA Archive)
BRITAIN US GUANTANAMO(11 of12)
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Johina Aamer, 2nd right, daughter of United Kingdom resident Shaker Aamer held in Guantanamo detention camp by the United States authorities, is accompanied by Amnesty international United Kingdom director Kate Allen, right, and other activists including British actress Vanessa Redgrave, left, outside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official residence in central London, Monday Jan. 11, 2010. To mark the eighth anniversary of Guantanamo detention camp opening, Aamer's 12-year-old daughter along with the activists delivered a letter to Brown asking the British government to do all they can to secure her father's return. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (credit:LEFTERIS PITARAKIS/AP)
BRITAIN-US-ATTACKS-GUANTANAMO(12 of12)
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The private jet believed to be carrying Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantanamo Bay, taxis after landing at Biggin Hill Airport, in south east London on October 30, 2015. Shaker Aamer arrived in London on Friday having earlier been freed from the US military prison in Cuba, British media reported. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images)
Confirming his release, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "The Americans announced some weeks ago that they were going to release Shaker Aamer from Guantanamo and I can confirm that he is on his way back to the UK now and he will arrive in Britain later today."
His US lawyer Cori Crider said: "We are, of course, delighted that Shaker is on his way back to his home and his family here in the UK.
"It is long, long past time. Shaker now needs to see a doctor, and then get to spend time alone with his family as soon as possible."
The government has confirmed he will not be detained.
Mr Aamer thanked his supporters and their "devotion" on Friday.
Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the Press Association: "The state cannot arbitrarily place restrictions upon him.
"It would be quite wrong to demonise him because there is no evidence to justify demonising him in 2015.
"I am sure there will be state authorities here who would like to interview him in the hope that he will provide them with some assistance in securing the safety of the public in this country.
"My view is that he should now be given the space to spend time with his family and catch up on all he has missed while he has been detained."
During his time in captivity, Mr Aamer's lawyers said he was subjected to torture, with beatings and sleep deprivation, and held in solitary confinement for 360 days. In 2005, he lost half his body weight during a hunger strike.
His family, MPs and actors Mark Rylance and Maxine Peake have also taken part in a 24-hour fast to show their support. Mr Aamer said he cried when he read about the protests.
He was described in US military files obtained by the WikiLeaks website as a "close associate of Osama bin Laden" who fought in the battle of Tora Bora. But in 2007 the allegations against him were dropped and he was cleared for release.
Despite a formal request by then-foreign secretary David Miliband, American authorities refused to allow him to go.
In letters, Mr Aamer said he was not sure if he would know how to respond to his name after being referred to as 239 - his prison number - for more than a decade.