US: Britain and the United States have agreed a compromise which halts, for the moment, the military trial of two of nine Britons being held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
In what the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, almost certainly hoped would cap his highly praised speech to the joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday, the White House last night confirmed the suspension of the trials. However, all nine Britons will remain in Guantanamo Bay while discussions about their fate take place.
But the announcement was overshadowed by the crisis facing Mr Blair over the apparent suicide of a leading scientist employed by the Ministry of Defence as an expert in weapons of mass destruction. He had become embroiled in a row between Mr Blair's office and the BBC.
The deal on the Guantanamo Bay prisoners was sought by Mr Blair during talks in Washington with President Bush. Mr Blair's spokesman, who is with him in Tokyo, said: "The President listened to the concerns of the Prime Minister and we believe that this is the best way forward."
Suspension of the proceedings would represent a political victory for Mr Blair, who had been under pressure at home to use his alliance with Mr Bush to stave off the Britons' trials.
But family and campaigners for the pair, Mr Feroz Abbasi (23) and Mr Moazzam Begg (35), said they still wanted more done, such as their repatriation to Britain or trial in a court on US soil.
"They urgently need access to a lawyer and an independent doctor," said Ms Louise Christian, lawyer for the family of Mr Abbasi. "Feroz has been held for 18 months now and there are concerns about his mental health. We want a British lawyer to go over there - one that he can have confidence in."
Mr Abbasi's father, Mr Azmat Begg, also said Mr Blair should be pressing Washington further, first for the men's conditions to be improved, then for them to come home for trial in Britain.
"They are being treated like animals," he said.
Washington set up a prison at the base in early 2002 to hold suspected al-Qaeda members captured in Afghanistan. More than 600 detainees from 40 nations are there. The two Britons were part of a first group of six suspects Washington had said it would try in military courts.
Rights groups said the guidelines for the trials, which could impose the death penalty, breached international law.
The Blair spokesman quoted the Anglo-American statement to be released in Washington as saying: "There will be no further legal proceedings against the individuals concerned pending discussions next week between high-level legal teams in the United States, led on the UK side by the Attorney General." The discussions will also encompass the seven other Britons in Guantanamo Bay, who have not yet been named as facing trial.
The statement did not make clear what would happen to four non-British prisoners who were also due for trial. Campaigners urged Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to take a firm line.
"No lawyer can possibly concede that the military tribunal can be a solution when the commander in chief has prejudiced the tribunal by his remarks in front of mass television," said Mr Stephen Jakobi of Fair Trials Abroad.
President Bush said at a news conference on Thursday: "The only thing that I know for certain is that these are bad people." - (Reuters)