|
<< Back
Falconer Attacks Guantánamo
Vikram Dodd
Guardian
June 15, 2006
The lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, last night denounced GuantánamoBay as a "recruiting agent" for terrorism. In the most outspoken attack to date by a senior minister, he described the existence of the US base as "intolerable and wrong".
"GuantánamoBay is a recruiting agent for those who would attack all our values," he said on BBC1's Question Time. "We live by the rule of law. What GuantánamoBay is doing is placing people beyond the rule of law, which is intolerable and wrong."
His remarks came as it emerged that the US is refusing Britain access to a man held in the prison camp so he can take an oath to become a British citizen. David Hicks, an Australian national, wants to become a British citizen, believing that will give him a better chance of being released. A high court judge last December ruled that he was entitled to citizenship.
Yesterday the government promised in court that the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, will this weekend consider lobbying the US for Mr Hick's release, and the US will consider allowing one of its officers to administer the oath of allegiance to the Queen.
<< Back
|
