Guantanamo Brit returned to UK today

GUANTANAMO Bay terror suspect Binyam Mohamed arrived back in Britain today and was detained by cops.

Mohamed, 30, was held after touching down at RAF Northolt on the outskirts of London.

Officers from the Met Police detained him under anti-terror legislation so he could be questioned.

They are entitled to hold him for up to nine hours before he must either be arrested or released.

A Met Police spokesman said: “Police are conducting investigations into his case.”

Ethiopian-born Mohamed has in the past allegedly confessed to involvement in terrorism.

But he claims to have been a victim of torture.

He was freed from the controversial detention centre after four years following US President Barack Obama’s decision to close it down.

Concerns had been raised about the UK resident’s health but he was able to walk off the aircraft without needing support.

He was dressed in casual clothes and clutched what appeared to be a document holder as he made his way to the terminal building surrounded by officials.

Mohamed had lived in London before he was arrested in Pakistan and transferred to the controversial military base in Cuba.

In a statement Mohamed said: “I have to say, more in sadness than in anger, that many have been complicit in my own horrors over the past seven years.

“For myself, the very worst moment came when I realised in Morocco that the people who were torturing me were receiving questions and materials from British intelligence.

“I hope you will understand that after everything I have been through I am neither physically nor mentally capable of facing the media on the moment of my arrival back to Britain.

“I have been through an experience that I never thought to encounter in my darkest nightmares.

“Before this ordeal, torture was an abstract word to me. I could never have imagined that I would be its victim.

“It is still difficult for me to believe that I was abducted, hauled from one country to the next, and tortured in medieval ways - all orchestrated by the United States government.

“While I want to recover, and put it all as far in the past as I can, I also know I have an obligation to the people who still remain in those torture chambers.

“My own despair was greatest when I thought that everyone had abandoned me. I have a duty to make sure that nobody else is forgotten.”

Mohamed’s sister Zuhra welcomed his release saying: “I’m so glad and so happy, more than words can express.”

On arrival he was met by a doctor, his lawyers, and family and friends, according to legal charity Reprieve.

Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith added: “He is a victim who has suffered more than any human being should ever suffer.

"He just wants to go somewhere very quiet and try to recover. Every moment that he is held compounds the abuse he has endured.”

His lawyers said he asked them to thank “all those in Britain who have worked for his freedom, including many members of the British Government”.

Mohamed went on a hunger strike for more than a month at the start of this year and was described by his legal team as “close to starvation”.

A team of British officials who travelled to Guantanamo Bay earlier this month said he was well enough to travel back to the UK.

Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, called for an independent inquiry into Britain’s role in secret detention and rendition programmes.

“We’re pleased that we have Binyam back today but it has taken the British Government far too long to be arguing for these men,” she said.

Gordon Brown today declined to say whether Mohamed will face any restrictions on his liberty when he returns to the UK.

Speaking in Southampton, where he is attending a Cabinet “awayday”, the PM said: “What I can say is that at all times the security of the country will be protected.

“Of course, we have got to look at the details of the arrangements, but at all times the security of the British people comes first.”

He added: “My first concern is the security of people in this country and we will do everything in our power to protect the security of people in our country and the Home Secretary will take whatever action is necessary.”

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said last week that Mohamed’s return to Britain did not constitute a commitment from the Home Secretary that he could remain in the UK permanently.

He said Mohamed’s immigration status would be reviewed following his return “and the same security considerations will apply to him as would apply to any other foreign national in this country”.

He added: “As always, all appropriate steps will be taken to protect national security.”

The Attorney General is consulting the Director of Public Prosecutions over whether to order a criminal investigation into claims that intelligence and security agents were involved in torturing Mr Mohamed.

The torture allegations are also at the heart of a continuing legal row after two High Court judges complained they were blocked by Mr Miliband from making public information relating to Mr Mohamed’s case for national security reasons.