Gitmo detainee seeks MI5 information

LONDON, May 7 (UPI) -- A detainee at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says the British intelligence agency MI5 may have information that could help him avoid a U.S. tribunal.

Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian refugee who lived in Britain for about seven years, has asked the High Court to force MI5 to hand over documents on his case, The Times of London reported Wednesday. His attorneys argue the agency can help him prove he was subjected to extraordinary rendition and torture before being sent to Guantanamo.

Mohamed was detained in Pakistan in 2002 when he tried to return to Britain. He claims he spent months in Morocco and then in the "Dark Prison" in Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo in 2004.

MI5 told a British investigating panel it had not been given "proper full assurances" on how information passed to U.S. agencies would be used and had no obligation to hand over documents.

Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley, Mohamed's U.S. military lawyer, was critical of the British agency.

"I cannot pretend that the U.S. military commissions are fair, but how can we possibly hope to help Mr. Mohamed if his own government leaves him to his fate?" she asked.