NOT THEIR UNICORN RIDER:

UK judges accuse Obama Administration of suppressing torture claim (Jenny Booth , 2/04/09, Times of London)

Two senior British judges have expressed their anger and surprise that President Barack Obama's Government has put pressure on Britain to suppress evidence of torture in US custody.

Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones said they had been told that America had threatened to stop co-operating with Britain on intelligence matters if evidence were published suggesting that Binyam Mohammed, a British resident held at the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, had been tortured into confessing crimes. [...]

In an initial ruling on his claims in August, the two judges tantalisingly revealed that MI5 had taken part in unlawfully interrogating Mr Mohammed. They ruled that the British Government was under a duty to disclose evidence that it held about Mr Mohammed's treatment after his detention in Pakistan.

MORE:
Guantanamo inmate 'joins Taleban' (Frank Gardnerm, 2/04/09, BBC)

A former Afghan inmate at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay has joined the Taleban's high command in Pakistan, UK government officials say.

They say Mullah Abdul Kayum Sakir, who was released last year, is now closely involved in planning attacks on British and other Nato forces in Afghanistan. [...]

British government officials say Mullah Abdul Kayum Sakir was handed over by the Americans in the spring of 2008 to the Afghan authorities, who briefly imprisoned him in Kabul.

But from there he was released and promptly made his way over the Pakistani border to rejoin the Taleban and its leadership.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 4, 2009 11:57 AM