Last British resident to be freed from US prison thanks supporters for their ‘devotion to justice’ after touching down at Biggin Hill airport

Shaker Aamer, released after 14 years incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay where he was beaten by his American military jailers, has touched down on British soil at Biggin Hill airport in south-east London.



The last British resident held at the US military prison in Cuba landed at 1pm on Friday in a private jet which then taxied into a hangar. After the plane landed, all the window blinds were pulled down, hiding the interior from view, so no glimpse of any passenger could be seen.

Aamer’s wish was to be met only by lawyers. A private reunion with his wife, Zin Siddique, was expected to take place later when he would also see his four children. He has never met his youngest, who was born on the day he was flown to Guantánamo Bay.



In a statement after his arrival, Aamer paid tribute to his supporters, saying: “Without their devotion to justice I would not be here in Britain now. The reason I have been strong is because of the support of people so strongly devoted to the truth.

“If I was the fire to be lit to tell the truth, it was the people who protected the fire from the wind. My thanks go to Allah first, second to my wife, my family, to my kids and then to my lawyers who did everything they could to carry the word to the world. I feel obliged to every individual who fought for justice not just for me but to bring an end to Guantánamo.

“Without knowing of their fight I might have given up more than once; I am overwhelmed by what people have done by their actions, their thoughts and their prayers and without their devotion to justice I would not be here in Britain now.

“The reality may be that we cannot establish peace but we can establish justice. If there is anything that will bring this world to peace, it is to remove injustice.”

His father-in-law, Saeed Siddique, 73, speaking earlier at his south-west London home, said: “It was his wish, he said, no one come to the airport except lawyers.

“It is a delightful day for all of us. It’s really a miracle, but I have to say we never gave up hope that we would see him again.”

He said Aamer would go directly to hospital on his arrival. “I don’t know when I will see him. It’s up to his lawyers.” Asked when Aamer would see his wife and children, he said: “Everybody is happy, but I don’t think they will see him today.”

Security was tight at Biggin Hill, a small airport famous for its connection with the Battle of Britain. Just over half an hour after the plane touched down, an ambulance pulled out of the airport car park, although it was not clear if Aamer was inside.

Standing peering over the wire fencing as the plane appeared on the horizon was Clive Stafford Smith, director of Reprieve, Aamer’s long-time lawyer and a veteran of Guantánamo cases.

“It’s been an unbelievable week and he’s in good spirits, but I don’t know if Shaker will believe it until he actually lands. It has been a lot of false starts and even this has been delayed for one week, two weeks, for no reason,” he said.

Stafford Smith, who said he worked out he had spent 2,154 hours on the case, said even he had not been allowed inside the airport building to meet his longtime client. “It is very odd; I don’t understand it,” he said.



Shaker’s family were not waiting for him, he said, but planned to meet him after he was taken to a clinic for a medical checkup.

“It is obviously very difficult for them, and Shaker’s first priority is to rebuild his life with his family,” Stafford Smith said. “But he hopes to start a foundation, the Shaker Aamer Foundation for Peace and Philanthropy, to ensure people know the history and to ultimately campaign to make sure this never happens again.”



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shaker Aamer. Photograph: Reprieve UK/EPA

It was not known if Aamer would be questioned by anti-terrorism police or MI5 officers, but given that ministers – including the prime minister, David Cameron – had campaigned for his release, he is unlikely to need to spend his first night back on British soil in a police cell.



News of his release was confirmed by the foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, on Friday morning. He said: “The Americans announced some weeks ago that they were going to release Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo and I can confirm that he is on his way back to the UK now and he will arrive in Britain later today.”



According to the flight tracking firm FlightAware, a plane left Guantánamo Bay bound for London’s Biggin Hill airport at 11.30pm local time (0430 GMT).



Cameron, who had personally raised Aamer’s case with Barack Obama, welcomed the release. His official spokeswoman said: “It is a case that he has personally raised with the president. He also wanted to support the president’s efforts to close Guantánamo Bay.”



She confirmed there were no plans to detain Aamer on his return, but measures had been put in place to “ensure public safety”.



“As soon as he is returned to the UK, he is no longer in detention. He is free to be reunited with his family. The prime minister has been clear that the public should be reassured that everything to ensure public safety is in place,” she said.



Although the US leaked claims – some extracted from the torture of other detainees – that Aamer fought for al-Qaida and was paid by Osama bin Laden, he was never tried for any offence. He insists he is innocent and was working in Afghanistan for an Islamic charity when he was detained.

He has said British officials were aware – and on one occasion, present – when he was being beaten by US interrogators. The Foreign Office has said it “did not accept allegations of … complicity in his mistreatment”. Whether he wishes to, or can, pursue his allegations, remains to be seen.

Cameron raised Aamer’s case with Obama in the White House in January and won an assurance from the US president that he would prioritise the issue. An announcement that Aamer was to be released followed in September. Friday’s release came after the mandatory 30-day notice period that has to be given to the US Congress in all such cases passed.

Aamer can be expected to receive compensation, perhaps as much as £1m, as 15 other British residents and citizens did in 2010, in return for dropping a civil case for unlawful imprisonment. They abandoned their demands for evidence they said would back their case that MI5 and MI6 were involved in their rendition to Guantánamo Bay.

In 2010, officers from the Metropolitan police visited him at the US military jail in Cuba where they questioned his allegations of British security and intelligence agency complicity in his mistreatment. Aamer has said British officials were aware he was beaten at Bagram, the US prison in Afghanistan, before he was secretly flown to Guantánamo Bay and, on one occasion, a British intelligence officer was present when US interrogators banged his head against a wall.

It is unclear whether Aamer’s lawyers have advised him to agree to a confidentiality agreement and to voluntary security measures. Binyam Mohamed, another former detainee, agreed to such measures, including regular reports to a police station, when he was released to Britain from Guantánamo Bay.



Aamer, born in Medina, Saudi Arabia, 47 years ago, is a British resident with a British wife and four British children who live in London.

He was captured by what are said to be bounty hunters from the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and handed over to US forces in December 2001. Two months later, he was rendered to Guantánamo Bay.



Repeated calls by successive British governments for his release will weaken the impact of any hostile stories, or smear tactics, directed at Aamer on his return to the UK.

Moazzam Begg, a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, warned: “Shaker’s greatest tests are yet to come – that is the heartbreaking part – and anyone who has been imprisoned away from their family can attest to this.

“However, Shaker is a courageous, resilient, kind and thoughtful person who has faced the worst the world has to offer and survived. His qualities have been acknowledged by his tormentors and I’m certain he won’t disappoint when he’s ready to tell his side of the story. Until he does, he deserves our respect, support, prayers and right to family life and privacy.”



The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who chairs the Shaker Aamer all-party parliamentary group, said he was “breathing a heavy sigh of relief along with other campaigners”.

“Shaker was simply a man in the wrong place at the wrong time, a charity worker building wells in Afghanistan, who was kidnapped, ransomed and falsely imprisoned,” McDonnell said. “He has been cleared twice for release, never charged and no serious evidence has been presented against him.”

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who attended an all-party delegation to Washington in May which demanded his release, said pressure mounted by the British parliament had contributed to Aamer’s freedom, as well as the steadfastness of his family and the commitment of campaigners.



“Now that Shaker has been released, the scandal of the Guantánamo detention camp itself must be brought to an end,” he said.

Green party MP Caroline Lucas, a longstanding campaigner for his release, said Aamer’s case “reinforces the urgent need for the judge-led inquiry into UK complicity in torture that the prime minister promised in 2010 but then backtracked on”.

Shami Chakrabarti, the director of campaign group Liberty, said Aamer’s his release brought huge relief to his family, serious questions remained. “Why did it take us so many years to persuade our closest ally to behave decently? How many young Britons have been radicalised, at least in part, by kidnap, internment and torture in freedom’s name?”

Campaigners spoke of their concerns that he will be tagged or monitored by security services. Lord Carlile, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the Press Association: “The state cannot arbitrarily place restrictions upon him. It would be quite wrong to demonise him because there is no evidence to justify demonising him in 2015. I am sure there will be state authorities here who would like to interview him in the hope that he will provide them with some assistance in securing the safety of the public in this country. My view is that he should now be given the space to spend time with his family and catch up on all he has missed while he has been detained.”