Lawyer: deal close on release of British detainees
London-AP -- A lawyer says the British and U-S governments are close to agreeing on a deal to return nine Britons being held at a Cuban naval base to Britain by Christmas. Clive Stafford Smith, a human rights lawyer who represents the detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, tells The Observer newspaper that two of the nine British detainees are likely to be released without charges. The other seven will serve sentences in British jails after pleading guilty to what Stafford calls "some nonsense charge."
The British Foreign Office isn't saying whether any deal is close.
The nine Britons are among around 660 prisoners, many captured after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan, being held at the base. Britain is opposed to its nationals facing a U-S military court.
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