One of the 13 detainees interned in Britain for nearly three years as suspected international terrorists was released Monday from a high security prison by UK Home Secretary David Blunkett without any detailed explanation being offered.
The release of the Algerian national, identified only as "D," comes just three months after he was said by a special judicial commission to have a "long history of involvement in terrorist support activity" and the ability and commitment to resume that work were he at liberty in Britain.
His solicitor, Natalie Garcia, said on Monday she had broken the news to him: "He was absolutely choked. All he could say was `I don't understand.' He feels he's been locked up for three years just on a whim."
Blunkett in a statement to British MPs said on Monday he had made the decision because "the weight of evidence" no longer justified D's continued detention and he was revoking the certificate branding him a suspected international terrorist. A UK Home Office spokeswoman would not elaborate on the reasons for the decision other than saying that the decision was made ahead of the second statutory review of his case. She added that the home secretary had always promised to act on new information or a change in circumstances.
The Algerian man walked free from Woodhill high security prison near Milton Keynes in southeast England on Monday afternoon and has been given "discretionary leave to stay" in the country for six months with "a range of assistance" from the national asylum support service.
Blunkett told British MPs yesterday: "In revoking D's certificate I have made clear that any further activities that are assessed to be a threat to national security could lead to him being certified again."
The decision mystified human rights campaigners who said it raised questions over the accuracy of the intelligence used to detain him.
The Algerian national lost an appeal against his internment last October when the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) backed Blunkett's decision to detain him indefinitely. He was among the original 13 detained in December 2001 when the government's emergency anti-terror laws came into effect.
Justice Ouseley, the SIAC chairman, described him as "a practised and accomplished liar". He was said to be an active supporter of the GIA, the Algerian armed Islamic group which is banned in Britain. The SIAC ruling said he was based at a Birmingham bookshop where he developed links with Abu Qatada, the Muslim cleric accused of links to al-Qaeda who is also interned under the anti-terror laws.
Amnesty International's director, Kate Allen, welcomed his release, but added: "The irony is that the UK home secretary's decision is, like the internment process itself, secretive, part of a shadow justice system rather than the rule of law."
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