Britain wants Gitmo detainee returned

LONDON, March 22 (UPI) -- British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says the United States should release the last British-linked terror suspect detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Smith told U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano this month that Shaker Aamer is the "one outstanding (prisoner) we would want returned to the U.K.," The Sunday Times of London reported.

Smith, however, was told by U.S. officials they oppose allowing Aamer to return to Britain, saying he is a "dangerous" terrorist. They note Aamer shared an apartment in the late 1990s with Zacarias Moussaoui, who has been labeled the "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Sandra Hodgkinson, the former U.S. Pentagon official in charge of detainees, reportedly has said Aamer "has been involved in a lot of significant terrorist plots."

But Aamer's U.S. lawyer, Brent Mickum, told The Sunday Times those claims are false.

"I have looked at the available material and there is nothing to support any of these allegations," Mickum said.