Brighton council calls for justice for Omar

Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum organised a protest today against the
Brighton resident Omar Deghayes who is being held without trial in
Guantanamo bay. The protest was held outside Brighton town hall where
the local council was meeting to debate a motion calling for justice.
Around 40 - 50 people arrived to protest, including Palestinian
musicians who performed for the crowd, and children dressed up in
'tyranny rex' costumes.

The motion was last on the agenda, so was not debated until around 9
o'clock in the evening. After much campaigning by local residents, all
major parties supported the motion, and it passed with an overwhelming
majority, with only two members voting against the motion.

The motion stated, "Omar Deghayes, a 35 year old Libyan refugee brought
up in Saltdean, where his mother still lives, has been detained without
trial by the American military in Guantanamo Bay's Camp Delta since
2002... This Council believes that the due process of law is a basic
human right, and that detention without trial or charges being laid or
the opportunity to construct a defence is immoral, everyone is entitled
to a fair trial."

The motion requires the council to to instruct the Chief Executive to
contact the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to ask the government to
intervene in Omar's case by calling on the American authorities to
either bring Mr Deghayes to trial in a court of law, or return him to
face trial in the UK, should the police deem it appropriate.

BHMF Policty Coordinator, Kadeer Arif, posed a question to Tony Blair,
appearing on Southern Counties Radio, asking him why the government has
not yet intervened. The prime minister evaded answering the question
directly.