Mother pleads for captive's return

Feroz Abbasi has been held for 18 months

The mother of a British terror suspect held by the United States in Cuba has pleaded with the government to secure his return to the UK.

Zumrati Juma said it is "distressing" that she has not heard from her son, Feroz Abbasi who is being held at the military base in Guantanamo Bay, since February.

Mr Abbasi, 23, from Croydon, south London, along with Moazzam Begg, 35, from Birmingham, is on an initial list of six detainees who could face US military tribunals.

Ms Juma, a nurse in Croydon, sent a strong message on Thursday to Attorney General Lord Goldsmith as he prepares for his second trip to Washington to discuss the future of the nine Britons held in Cuba.

"I'm taking this opportunity to plead personally with the Attorney General to negotiate with the Americans for the return of Feroz to this country to be tried here so I can have access to him.

What we're going to be seeing if this goes ahead is those incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay without any access to a lawyer Louise Christian

"I personally don't think that the military commission is going to be a fair trial simply because, if Feroz is tried in Guantanamo Bay, he will have to serve his sentence in Guantanamo Bay and that means I'll not be able to see my son for a very long time."

Mr Abbasi, who was first detained in Afghanistan, has been held at Camp Delta for 18 months without criminal charge or internment as a prisoner of war.

Lord Goldsmith confirmed last week that Mr Abbasi and Mr Begg would not face the death penalty if found guilty.

Following two days of talks with officials from the US Defence Department, the Attorney General said he had made "significant progress" on improving the rules by which the two would be tried.

On Thursday Law Society president Peter Williamson called for the British suspects to be tried in a US civil court with full safeguards for a fair trial, or be repatriated and tried in the UK.

The US proposes a system of military commissions in which defence lawyers are appointed by US officials and the cases are heard by military judges.

Louise Christian, Ms Juma's solicitor, said: "What we're going to be seeing if this goes ahead is those incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay without any access to a lawyer being placed on trial before judges who will be wearing the same uniform as those who have been keeping them in custody."

Mr Abbasi has requested a Muslim lawyer so Ms Christian has allocated one of her partners, Sadiq Khan, to represent him.

But she said that under the rules of the military trial Mr Khan would not be able to represent him because he is not a US citizen.