Posted on 04/30/2007 6:54:40 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
LONDON - Two Libyans accused of being linked to al Qaeda won an appeal against their forced removal from Britain in a test case on Friday, prompting an angry response from Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The men, identified only as DD and AS, said they would be mistreated because of their religious and political beliefs if they were sent back to Libya.
The Home Office, which argued the men were a threat to national security, had attempted to deport them under the terms of a 2005 memo of understanding between London and Tripoli which promises that suspects deported to Libya would not face torture, mistreatment or the death penalty.
But the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled the men should be allowed their appeal as "there was a real risk" their human rights could be breached if they returned...The government said it would appeal the ruling.
"In order to be able to give a strong signal that those people cannot get away with what they want to do, we have to be able to deport people and send them back to their own country," Blair said.
"It's very hard for someone in my position, who is charged with the responsibility for trying to protect our country's security, to be told that if there were doubts raised about the political system in the countries from which these people come, I can't return them to that country when they are a menace and a threat to people in this country."
A lawyer for DD said the court's decision should open the way for other Libyans to be freed..Under human rights laws, Britain needs guarantees from countries that deportees will not be mistreated at home...
DD and AS were granted bail. The terms are yet to be finalised.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
They were a threat to England, thats why they were ordered deported.
What other country would accept them? Probably none.
It isnt up to the country under attack to be worried about what happens to the attackers.
The attackers should have thought about that before they caused trouble.
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