British Prime Minister Tony Blair failed on Thursday to wring concessions from US President George Bush on the fate of British citizens jailed at the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Good.
The treatment of at least nine Britons being held without trial as "enemy combatants" has been a note of discord in the staunch US-British alliance in the war on global terrorism. Speculation had grown that Mr Bush would use his three-day visit to London to announce that the Britons, mostly detained in Afghanistan, might be sent to Britain for trial. At a joint news conference, Mr Bush said discussions were continuing, but insisted that the court procedures in place would allow the detainees’ cases to be handled fairly. "Justice is being done..." Mr Bush said. "And they are being treated in a humane fashion." Mr Blair added: "It’s not going to be resolved today...Either they will be tried by the military commission out there, or alternatively, they’ll be brought back here."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell told BBC television on Wednesday that "we also expect to be resolving this in the near future". But it is not even clear whether Mr Blair’s team would really welcome the return of the detainees. Legal experts say it is possible a dearth of evidence gathered in Britain would prevent them being charged in a British court, meaning they could walk free almost immediately.
Bet Blair has a different public and private policy on this. He doesn’t want this hot potato in British courts. |