Stiff upper lip over Bermuda/Guantanamo Scandal!

[Peikko 1,575]

Britain to review legal basis of relations with Bermuda over Guantánamo row

Britain is to review the legal basis of its relations with Bermuda following a transatlantic row over the resettlement of Guantánamo detainees on the Caribbean island.The US transfer to Bermuda of four Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, represents an acute embarrassment for the British government, which is supposed to oversee the foreign and security policy of the British overseas territory.

In angry telephone exchanges with Bermuda's prime minister, Ewart Brown, UK officials have contested his right to negotiate the transfer of the four Uighurs from US custody without consulting Britain.

Barack Obama has said he wants to close Guantánamo Bay detention camp by the end of the year, but is encountering serious problems in deciding what to do with the remaining 240 inmates. The Washington Post reported today that the administration had "all but abandoned" plans to resettle them on US soil in the face of determined bipartisan resistance.

Last year a US court order the Uighurs' release on the grounds that there was no evidence that they had acted against the US. Another 13 Uighurs are awaiting transfer to the Pacific archipelago of Palau, where there is considerable public resistance to the government's agreement to take them.

Under a 1968 understanding known as the general entrustment, Bermuda has the right to conduct external relations "on behalf of" Britain, on condition that London is consulted before agreements with other states are entered. At issue is whether the prison transfer represented such a formal agreement, or simply a local immigration matter. The Foreign Office insisted the matter was "a security issue for which the Bermuda government does not have delegated responsibility."

British officials said there would now be talks with Bermuda on the interpretation of the general entrustment. But by this evening they were playing down a suggestion made earlier in the day that the understanding would be suspended. Meanwhile, a Foreign Office official said Britain would help Bermuda carry out a thorough security assessment of the four Chinese Muslim separatists.

Taken by surprise by news of the Uighurs arrival, Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, is understood to have had an uneasy telephone conversation with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, about why London was not told. Clinton reportedly said the US had assumed that Bermuda had agreed the move with Britain before agreeing to host the Uighurs.

Ian Kelly, the US state department spokesman, said Washington was confident that it could "work these things through" with the British government.

The Bermudan prime minister said he agreed to host the Uighurs because it was "the right thing to do", but conceded he had had a tense conversation with the island's British governor, Richard Gozney.

"He is seeking to further assess the ramifications of this move before allowing the government of Bermuda to fully implement this action," Brown said. "Our colonial relationship with the United Kingdom certainly gives him licence to do so."

However, a senior Labour MP accused the US of "riding roughshod" over British legal rights in pursuit of its own interests.

"The proper authority here is the British government and the US should have consulted with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before they did anything of this kind," Mike Gapes, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"I wonder what promises have been given to the Bermudans, potentially about going a bit soft on the tax haven status or something else as a quid pro quo."

The Chinese government yesterday demanded that all 17 men, who have been cleared of terrorism allegations, be returned to China.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said the US should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date". He did not say if China would take any action.

Link

Edited June 12, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[Peikko 1,575]

Obama is preparing a tax haven ready for himself and his rich friends

[AlHayatZween 2]

The Chinese government yesterday demanded that all 17 men, who have been cleared of terrorism allegations, be returned to China.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said the US should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date". He did not say if China would take any action.

Sounds ominous.

[Peikko 1,575]

I think that's diplomatic language for 'you keep them, we don't want them' to be honest.

[almaty 19]

true...