British suicide bomber in Iraq had won compensation for Guantanamo stay

A British Islamic State fighter who carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq this week is a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was paid £1 million compensation by the British government

23 February 2017, 8:21am

2 min read

Still image shows British militant Abu-Zakariya al-Britani smiling and seated inside a car with wires hanging off him at an unknown location, in this undated video taken from social media

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An Islamic State suicide bomber from Britain who blew himself up in an attack on Iraqi forces this week had been given compensation for his detention in the Guantanamo Bay military prison, Western security sources said on Wednesday.

Islamic State militants said Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, a British citizen who was originally known as Ronald Fiddler and then cast himself as Jamal Udeen al-Harith, detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base southwest of Mosul this week.

Originally from the northern English city of Manchester, he converted to Islam in his 20s. He was detained in Afghanistan by US special forces and taken to Guantanamo in 2002.

Britani was freed in 2004 after the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair lobbied for his release and later travelled to Syria to fight with Islamic State.

The 50-year-old suicide bomber is said to have received £1 million (€1.18 million), while UK Prime Minister Theresa May was home secretary, from the government in compensation for his detention at Guantanamo Bay.

ISIS militants also published a photograph of the smiling bomber surrounded by wires in the seat of what appeared to be the car in which he blew himself up.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday the government was not able to verify his identity. "There is no independent confirmation of the identity of this man who is believed to be dead in Mosul," he told reporters. On the other hand, Reuters news agency reported that three Western security sources said it was highly likely that Britani was the bomber and now dead.

Britain reached a civil damages settlement with British former Guantanamo Bay inmates in 2010, then-justice secretary Kenneth Clarke told parliament at the time, but he did not disclose the size of the payouts, citing confidentiality agreements.

No 10 declined to comment on the compensation payments, whether they were necessary, if May had agreed with them or tried to stop them. The spokesman also refused to say why the Prime Minister as home secretary had allowed Harith to travel to Syria.

May’s spokesman said to each question: “It is an intelligence matter.”