Camp Delta (Gitmo) Detainees 'Knew London Bombers'

By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor, in Guantanamo Bay
(Filed: 21/02/2006)

Inmates at Guantanamo Bay who are campaigning for their release at the High Court in London had contact with the terrorist cell responsible for carrying out last July's London bombings, interrogation officials at the detention camp have disclosed.

American officials responsible for running the camp say that "dozens" of the 500 detainees currently being held at Camp Delta had previously lived or worked in Britain prior to their capture in Afghanistan in 2001, but are not British citizens.

Three of the detainees - who describe themselves as residents, but not citizens, in papers served at the High Court - were last week given permission to seek an order for Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, to campaign for their release.

But US officials responsible for interrogating the suspects say that the detainees had knowledge of the cell responsible for carrying out the bomb attacks on three Tube trains and a London bus that killed 52 people and wounded more than 700 others.

"After the London bombings we got a request from British intelligence to check whether these people had any knowledge of those responsible for carrying out the attacks," said a senior US official.

"We interviewed them and they were able to provide a great deal of information about the bombings which we passed back to London."

American officials refused to give specific details of the intelligence provided by the detainees, but said it related to the "training and organisational structure" of the terrorist cells responsible for carrying out the July 7 attack.

Major-General Jay Hood, the American officer responsible for running Guantanamo, confirmed that MI6 had made repeated requests for information about the terrorist attacks from inmates held at the detention facility.

"There are a significant number of detainees who have either lived in or travelled through Britain before their capture," said Major-General Hood. "During that time they made contact with the more radical elements of the UK's Islamic population.

"We have passed the information they have provided about the London bombings to the British authorities. I believe this information has helped to prevent further attacks in the UK."

American officials say that the ongoing interrogation of the detainees continues to provide valuable information about al-Qa'eda's international network.

Apart from preventing attacks in London, recent intelligence has led to active al-Qa'eda cells being broken up in Italy and Germany in the past year.

Although human rights groups claim that detainees are not in a position to provide current intelligence four years after capture, General Hood insists they are still providing high quality intelligence.

"It is like doing a giant mosaic, and every piece of information helps to give us a clearer picture of the threat we face in the global war on terror," he said.

In recent weeks some of the captured al-Qa'eda fighters, who were in charge of bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan, have begun co-operating with US officials and revealing details of the worldwide terrorist network they helped set up before the war in Afghanistan in 2001.

"This is a really significant breakthrough," said a senior US official at the base.

American officials are insistent that no torture methods have been used to persuade the al-Qa'eda fanatics to co-operate.

"The most common method used to interrogate detainees is to sit down with them, watch a movie and eat pizza," said the official. "You build up a relationship with them and eventually they co-operate."

So will British critics STFU about Gitmo now?

And these are the people the Democrats want to get a trial.

In 1916, the British incarcerated men who had participated in the Easter Rebellion in Ireland. By 1919, World War I being over, the British government felt they could safely release them. Many of them, including their boss, Michael Collins, founded the IRA, which launched a campaign against the British in Ireland.

I'm pointing this out for the truth that you can be certain some of these Gitmo people will go right back to what they were doing if they're released.

...some of these Gitmo people will go right back to what they were doing if they're released.

I was under the impression that some had already been released and gone back to what they were doing.

"I was under the impression that some had already been released and gone back to what they were doing."

Yes, some of the released have been killed and recaptured back in battle.

Let the High Court go to GitMo and ask the American CO to release them. That ought to be good for a laugh, which I'm sure the CO and the other troops at GitMo surely need, after being in daily contact with that bunch of maniacs, nut jobs and just plain fanatics.

Just cleaning up the drool from their foaming at the mouth must take a quite a crew, and talk about a s&*t duty. Yuck.

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