LONDON, Jan 26 (AFP) - Two of the Britons who were freed from the US jail for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay will file a lawsuit against the US government over their treatment there, their lawyer said Wednesday.
Clive Stafford-Smith said his clients Moazzam Begg and Richard Belmar, who returned to Britain on Tuesday and were facing questioning under Britain's own anti-terrorism law, were the victims of torture.
"I guarantee they will sue the American government," Stafford-Smith said after visiting the London police station where they are being held with the two other Britons who were released on Tuesday.
But Stafford-Smith said they did not want money and any award given to them by a court would go to charity.
He said: "They want a simple apology. But I realize that sorry seems to be the hardest word for some governments these days."
All four had been kept in legal limbo as suspected terrorists at the US naval base on Cuba for up to three years, and released after extensive discussions between the British and US governments.
After reportedly pushing strongly in private for the men to be freed, the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair handed Washington a stiff rebuke in June.
Proposed military tribunals for some Guantanamo prisoners did not "offer sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards", British Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith said.
The four were all arrested in Afghanistan or Pakistan, or had previously visited one or both of the countries, and US authorities have linked them to Al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups.
However, the men's lawyers insist they are innocent, saying Tuesday that they should be set free without delay after their alleged mistreatment in US custody.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke meanwhile announced on Wednesday that Britain would end a controversial policy of detaining foreign terror suspects without trial, replacing it with a series of "control orders",
Suspects, who would be kept in prison for the time being, would eventually be subject to sanctions such as curfews and electronic tagging instead, Clarke told parliament.
01/26/2005 13:00 GMT - AFP