Father's Day Appeal For Jamil

4.26.22pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 15th Jun 2007

Sarah Teather took her constituents to Downing Street to deliver a letter to Gordon Brown

Anas and Mohammed el-Banna, children of Guantánamo detainee Jamil el-Banna, have delivered a letter to Gordon Brown asking him to bring their dad home for Father's Day.

The family's local MP, Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather, walked with the el-Bannas, aged 9 and 10, to 11 Downing Street and called for the Government to "urgently intervene to bring Jamil home to Brent".

Jamil el-Banna has been illegally imprisoned in Guantánamo Bay for four and a half years. Jamil has now finally been cleared for release by the United States Government. However, the British government are yet to say they will allow Jamil, a British resident, to return home to his wife and British children in Brent.

Unless Gordon Brown takes action, Jamil could be sent to Jordan to face the possibility of torture.

Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"Father's Day is always a painful time for Jamil el-Banna's young children, but this year will be harder than usual. Jamil could come home to Brent if the British Government were prepared to accept him back.

"Jamil el-Banna is stuck in bureaucratic nightmare. Jamil was abducted based on false information provided by British intelligence services, and has been held against his will and without charge for four long years. It is complete madness and grossly insensitive for the Government to say he has broken the terms of his immigration status.

"Only the Labour Government stand in the way of Jamil's return to his family and friends in Brent. I hope that, this Fathers Day, Gordon Brown will think about the el-Banna family and finally take the action that Tony Blair has refused."