'Options open' for Guantanamo suspects

Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi will be able to choose civilian lawyers

Talks about the fate of British terror suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay will resume next week as American legal chiefs visit London.

"All options" for trying the men remain open, according to Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, who is leading the British delegation for the negotiations.

Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg have been named among the first who will face controversial military tribunals being set up by the US.

Two rounds of talks have already been held, with Lord Goldsmith securing a guarantee that the pair will not face the death penalty if found guilty.

He says the US authorities have also agreed that suspects will be able to choose a civilian lawyer and that their trials will be open.

The men are among at least nine UK citizens detained for more than a year without trial at the military camp in Cuba.

'Principles upheld'

More than 250 MPs have signed a parliamentary petition raising concerns that the men will not receive a fair trial from the tribunals being set up.

They want the men repatriated to the UK.

Lord Goldsmith told BBC Radio 4's Today show: "I have now visited the United States twice to raise our strong concerns and to see what concessions and assurances I can obtain.

Lord Goldsmith says the talks have come to no conclusions

"The objective has been to ensure that, if prosecuted, the British detainees are assured of fair trials that meet generally-recognised principles."

Lord Goldsmith said the men's lawyers would have access to "all relevant materials", subject to security restraints.

"We have not completed these discussions yet," he said. "I am reluctant to give a running commentary on the negotiations.

"The discussions would not be continuing if we had yet reached a conclusion.

"All options remain open. Once these negotiations have come to an end, and the US delegation will be coming to see me next week in London, I will be in a position to say where we are."

Independence concerns

Later on Wednesday, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes urged the UK Government to make every effort to ensure the suspects got a fair trial.

"Lord Goldsmith's visits to the US have proved fruitless so far," said Mr Hughes. "Let's hope that the visit by US officials to London provides a more satisfactory outcome."

The families of Mr Begg and Mr Abbasi have argued the concessions offered by the US authorities so far have not gone far enough.

Last month, Mr Begg's father, Azmat, told BBC News Online his son had been deprived of human rights at Camp Delta and it would be "impossible" for him to receive a fair hearing from the US military.

Mr Abbasi's solicitor, Louise Christian, said: "We're talking about fundamental human rights in being allowed to be tried by a court independent of the government accusing you."

Ms Christian, who is also representing two of the other seven British prisoners, said that if any of the men are to face trial it should be in the UK.

Calling on ministers to do more, she said: "These men have spent 18 months in wire cages and the British government has stood by and done nothing."