British prisoners who were repeatedly tortured in Saudi Arabia launched legal action last night on Saturday against the Middle Eastern kingdom, defying last-minute attempts to buy their silence.
Lawyers have been instructed to sue over claims of human-rights abuses and false imprisonment from British men allegedly beaten into confessing involvement in bomb attacks.
The development came amid claims that the Saudi authorities have assembled a huge "bribe" to silence the men and prevent a multi-million-pound lawsuit. Prominent Saudi dissidents said a package -- possibly as much as £1 million each -- appears to have been put together to prevent the captives from suing or speaking publicly about their ordeal. But three of the men, who claim to have suffered months of beatings, have told Manchester-based solicitors to start pursuing compensation and justice in the court.
The threat of a lawsuit comes at a time of unprecedented tension between the West and the Arab world. Experts warn it heralds a serious straining of diplomatic relations between Britain and its chief ally in the region.
The men claim they were arrested and tortured until they confessed to carrying out a string of anti-Western terror attacks in the kingdom from November 2000. Some were held in solitary confinement for more than two years.
Sandy Mitchell, James Cottle, Les Walker, James Lee, Glenn Ballard, Peter Brandon, as well as William Sampson, who has a Canadian passport, were released after being granted clemency this month. Lee and Cottle -- who lost more than six stone during his two-and-a-half years in prison -- are among those who have instructed solicitors. Already the men have angered the Saudi authorities by refusing to sign a waiver prohibiting them from taking legal action.
Suggestions that a huge sum could be offered to buy their silence will inflame a volatile situation in the kingdom. Security forces raided Islamist militants, linked to al-Qaeda, in Riyadh last week while outbreaks of violence might have been linked to fury at the pardon of the Britons.
Fears are growing for the wife of one of the former prisoners, who remains stranded in Riyadh.
To add to her plight, British Airways last week suspended flights to Saudi Arabia after being told of a suspected terror plot.
London-based dissidents said "floating intelligence" suggested a figure of £750,000 had been discussed for the men, though this could be increased to £1 million.
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