A MANCHESTER-based Euro MP has called for the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to be closed as she became one of the first western politicians to visit it.

Arlene McCarthy, Labour MEP for the north west, was part of a delegation from Brussels allowed to tour controversial Camp Delta at the US naval base on Cuba, where al-Qaida terror suspects have been held for up to four years without charge.

She was allowed to see the conditions prisoners were kept in and to discuss the camp's future - but barred from speaking to the 490 remaining detainees.

Ms McCarthy said Guantanamo was "not the answer" to the terrorist threat facing America and it was "not acceptable" to hold people for years without putting them on trial.

"We have always said that Guantanamo needs to close," she said. "We have experienced terrorist attacks with the London and Madrid bombings and indeed my own region, the north west of England, has suffered from bomb attacks in Manchester and Warrington.

"The way to beat the terrorist is through sophisticated intelligence networks and pursuing them through the criminal justice system.

"We will be asking the US authorities about their timetable and strategy for closing down Guantanamo."

The delegation was invited to see the camp by members of the US House of Representatives after expressing concerns about it during a previous trip to America.

Their visit is the first by senior European politicians since Belgian Senate President Anne-Marie Lizin was granted access earlier this year as part of her work with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Five United Nations experts on human rights turned down the chance to visit after learning they would not be allowed to talk to detainees. They later published a report saying inmates had suffered inhumane treatment and were denied basic legal rights.

The Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, has already called for the camp to be closed and Tony Blair has referred to it as an "anomaly".

Another UN report, published last week, said the indefinite holding of suspects without trial breached a worldwide ban on torture.

There have been 39 suicide attempts at Guantanamo Bay.

But Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, has made it clear the camp would stay open and said: "We cannot be in a situation in which we are just turning loose on helpless populations or unprotected populations people who have vowed to kill more Americans if they're released."

david.ottewell@men-news.co.uk

Tweet