U.K. Guantanamo detainee enjoys first day of freedom

LONDON -- Custard-filled doughnuts, cheese, hummus and bread with chocolate spread were on the menu Tuesday as a former Guantanamo detainee spent his first full day of freedom after seven years in captivity.

Ethiopian refugee Binyam Mohamed was freed Monday from the U.S. prison camp in Cuba and flown to Britain, where he was met by his sister, Zuhra Mohamed.

All charges of Mohamed's alleged involvement in a dirty bomb plot in the United States were dropped without explanation in October, and British officials persuaded the U.S. to release him.

Since his arrest in Pakistan in 2002, Mohamed alleges the American and British governments were complicit in his torture at an alleged CIA covert site in Morocco. He also says he was abused by Pakistani intelligence agents and later by American personnel in Afghanistan and Guantanamo.

"He'll spend this week just clearing his head," said his former defense attorney, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley. "After that, counselors will be lined up to help him and he'll consider speaking to the media. I don't think a lot of this has hit him yet."

**FILE**In this file image originally released by the human rights and legal defense organization Reprieve, Guantanamo detainee and terror suspect Binyam Mohamed is pictured in London, in 2000. Mohamed, who claims he was tortured at a covert CIA site in Morocco, returned to Britain a free man Monday, Feb. 23, 2009, after nearly seven years in U.S. captivity -- the first inmate from the U.S. prison camp freed since President Barack Obama took office. (AP Photo/Reprieve,file)

Mohamed was staying at a "nice and quiet" house in the English countryside, according to Bradley. His lawyers, including Clive Stafford Smith from the legal charity Reprieve, have offered to take care of his expenses until he gets back on his feet.

Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg spent the day with Mohamed and took him shopping.

"We talked a lot -- mostly about the people still being held in Guantanamo -- and we ate a lot of biscuits [cookies]," Begg said. "He's extremely emaciated."

Mohamed has been granted temporary residency in Britain, but British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there are no guarantees of permanent residency.

"Mr. Mohamed's return does not constitute a commitment by the Home Secretary that he may remain permanently in the U.K.," Miliband said. "His immigration status is being reviewed following his return. As always, the government's top priority is national security."

Britain's attorney general has opened an investigation into whether there was any criminal wrongdoing on behalf of Britain or the British security agent from MI5 who interrogated Mohamed before he was rendered to Morocco.

While Britain has acknowledged that Mohammed was sent to Morocco, the United States still refuses to account for the 18 months he says he was there.

Two British judges, meanwhile, are also considering whether to reopen a case into whether 42 secret US intelligence documents shared with Britain should be disclosed. The judges say the documents detail Mohamed's treatment.

"Further public disclosure of these documents remains a matter for the U.S. administration," said Miliband. "In this regard, we welcome the U.S. attorney general's order to a review of all the assertions of the state secrets privilege in the U.S. Courts."

On Tuesday, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee said he was being detained at an immigration facility near London's Heathrow Airport for not informing U.K. officials that he had previously been held at the U.S. prison camp.

Jaralla Saleh Mohammed Kahla al-Marri, a Qatari, said he had been held at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Center since Monday over a visa irregularity.

In a telephone interview from the center, al-Marri said he couldn't understand his treatment. He said he traveled to Britain a few weeks ago without problems to take part in a speaking tour about his experiences at the prison camp.

"They said 'We didn't know you were in Guantanamo,"' al-Marri said "All the world, they know. (The British government is) the last to know? It's a shame."

Al-Marri was detained by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001 on suspicion of links to the Taliban and al-Qaida. But no charges were ever brought against him.

His brother, Ali al-Marri, is currently being held in the brig at Charleston Naval Base, in South Carolina.

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Associated Press Writer Raphael G. Satter in London contributed to this report