be just

Who Is Binyam Mohamed? - by Andy Worthington : "Who Is Binyam Mohamed? by Andy Worthington As British resident Binyam Mohamed stepped off a plane at RAF Northolt on Monday Feb. 23, six years and 10 months since he was first abducted by the Pakistani authorities at Karachi airport, it was impossible not to sympathize with the words written in a statement by the tall, thin, slightly stooped 30-year-old and delivered by his lawyers at a press conference. 'I hope you will understand that after everything I have been through I am neither physically nor mentally capable of facing the media on the moment of my arrival back to Britain,' the statement read. 'Please forgive me if I make a simple statement through my lawyer. I hope to be able to do better in days to come, when I am on the road to recovery.' For the last three and a half years, since Binyam Mohamed's lawyers at Reprieve, the legal action charity, first released his harrowing account of his torture in Moroc...

Guantanamo Bay: British Resident Binyam Mohamed Returns To Britain | UK News | Sky News : "Ethiopian-born Mr Mohamed, 30, had been held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2004. He was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 after the US launched its war on terror. Mr Mohamed claims he was secretly flown to Morocco and tortured before being moved to Afghanistan and then Cuba. He also alleges he was tortured into falsely confessing to terrorist activities and claims MI5 officers were complicit in his abuse."

Wis. reservist refuses to return to Iraq - Army News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Army Times Wis. reservist refuses to return to Iraq By James A. Carlson - The Associated Press Posted : Monday Feb 23, 2009 20:54:32 EST MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin Army Reservist refused to leave Friday to return to his unit in Iraq, saying he’s become disillusioned with the U.S. role there. Spc. Kristoffer Walker of Green Bay said he sent an e-mail to his squad leader, platoon sergeant and company first sergeant in Iraq, stating he won’t return from his two-week leave. The 28-year-old Walker has served with the 353rd Transportation Company out of Buffalo, Minn., which deployed to Iraq in October. He said he was a truck driver for the first two months, and since then he’s worked in the headquarters office.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Call to relax Guantanamo regime : "A US defence department review of conditions at Guantanamo Bay detention camp has called for an easing of the isolation of prisoners there. The Pentagon report says inmates should be allowed more social interaction and opportunities for recreation. It comes as new US Attorney General Eric Holder pays his first visit to the controversial facility in Cuba. Last month, President Barack Obama ordered the Guantanamo Bay camp to be closed within one year. About 250 prisoners are still held there, nearly all without charge. Among them was a UK inmate, who returned from the camp to Britain earlier on Monday. Ethiopian-born Binyam Mohamed, 30, was held in Guantanamo for more than four years and says he was tortured. He became the first Guantanamo prisoner released since Barack Obama took office."

Israeli spying a major setback for Hizbollah - The National Newspaper : "BEIRUT // The revelation last week that Israeli intelligence had penetrated the highest levels of Hizbollah left the normally secretive militant group scrambling to contain the damage. The initial reports, detailed in the Lebanese media last week, revealed that Marwan Faqih, a long-time associate of the group’s tight-knit leadership, has been accused by an internal Hizbollah investigation of spying for Israel since at least the mid-1990s. Hizbollah is thought to have arrested Mr Faqih last month before recently turning him over to the Lebanese authorities for prosecution. A well-known businessman in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, Mr Faqih ran several automobile-related businesses, including dealerships and mechanic shops. Official leaks from Lebanese security forces accused Mr Faqih of using access to Hizbollah vehicles to install tracking and listening devices on behalf of Israeli intelligence services to t...

11 killed in attack on peacekeepers in Somalia | Antiwar Newswire : "An attack on an African Union peacekeeping base in the Somali capital Sunday killed 11 people and injured 15, the AU said, but it denied insurgent claims of a suicide attack. El Ghassim Wane, a spokesman for the AU in Addis Ababa, said the insurgents had fired mortars onto the base in Mogadishu. He gave no further details."

Israel orders Palestinian homes razed | Herald Sun : "ISRAEL has ordered hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in annexed east Jerusalem, warning their houses are illegal, officials and residents said today. 'The owners of 80 houses in the al-Bustan neighbourhood have received eviction notices saying that the structures will be destroyed because they are illegal,' said Hatem Abdel Kader, an official responsible for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian government. He said 1500 people were living in the threatened houses in the neighbourhood abutting the Old City. He said several of the houses served with demolition orders were built before 1967, when Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War but numerous extensions have been built since. 'The (Jerusalem) municipality used this as a pretext to issue the demolition orders despite appeals by the residents,' he said."