Guantanamo's last British inmate freed

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Shaker Aamer, the last British resident held by the United States at its Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison, was freed Friday.

Aamer, 46, a Saudi citizen in U.S. captivity since 2002, was sent to London to be reunited with his wife, who is British, and four children. He was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 on allegations he led a unit of Taliban fighters. Aamer has long said he was in the country to perform charitable works.

While in custody, Aamer, who is fluent in English, led mass hunger strikes and established himself as a negotiator with authorities. When a 2006 protest led to suicides among the inmates, Aamer was isolated from the main prison population.

When Britain requested the transfer home of five inmates, Aamer was the only one of the five who remained at Guantanamo.

After he was recommended for transfer for the second time in 2009, U.S. government officials sought to have him repatriated to Saudi Arabia, where government control over him would be tighter. His lawyers requested he be transferred to Britain, were his family resides. He remained detained until Friday.

Aamer says he was tortured while at Guantanamo.

Several human rights organizations have campaigned to have Aamer released. The British director of Amnesty International, Kate Allen, said she would not believe Aamer was free "until his plane touches down on British soil.

"We should remember what a terrible travesty of justice this case has been, and that having been held in intolerable circumstances for nearly 14 years, Mr. Aamer will need to time to readjust to his freedom."