BBC news, I am Lapaco Tary.
The BBC understands that three former British residents being held at Guantanamo Bay detention center will be returned to Britain. In August, the British government asked for the return of five former British residents, while three are going to Britain, one will be sent to Saudi Arabia and another will remain at the American military prison camp in Cuba. Jonathan Beale reports from Washington.
The Pentagon insists that the five men are all dangerous. Over the last few months, US and British authorities have been in attentive negotiations about their return. The US is seeking reassurances that they will not pose any security threat or be allowed to return to the battlefield. Only three of the five will be returning to Britain. They are Jamil el-Banna, alleged by the US of being a prominent recruiter and financier for Al-Qaida, Omar Deghayes, a Libyan, also accused of associating with al-Qaida and Abdenoue Samuer, an Algerian, who the Pentagon claim received combat training in Afghanistan.
The opposition Democrats in the United States have accused the Bush administration of covering up possible evidence of torture after the CIA revealed it had destroyed videotapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects. The Democrats are demanding an investigation into whether the CIA was guilty of obstructing justice. The CIA, which had previously denied the tapes' existence, said it destroyed them to protect the identity of its agents. The White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said President Bush could not recall knowing about the tapes. I asked the President about whether he knew about the tapes and their existence or their destruction. He said he had no recollection of that, he did not remember being made, being made aware of those at prior to yesterday morning.
In the reversal of a previous policy, the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has agreed to establish a neutral zone for talks on the release of hostages with left-wing rebels of the FARC. Colombia is under growing international pressure to negotiate the release of the hostages. President Sarkozy of France has made an emotional appeal for the release of the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt. President Uribe set up the details in a public address.
The Catholic Church and the national conciliation commission are proposing a meeting zone and the government is willing to accept it with some important provisos; it should be around a hundred and fifty square kilometers in a rural zone where there are no military or police stations that have to be removed. Prefer be a zone without civilians or with very few of them, so as to avoid putting them at risk. International observers would be present and those who discussed the humanitarian exchange should not be armed.
A battle is underway in Afghanistan for control of the only major town held by Taliban insurgents. Afghan and British troops began the attack on Mushakala in Helmand province on Friday after surrounding the town. NATO said the assault would continue through the night led by American troops using night-vision equipment.
World news from the BBC.
An investigative journalist who suggested that the French intelligence services have prior knowledge of the 9-11 attacks has been placed under official investigation. French judicial officials say the detectives from the DST counter-espionage agency detained Guillaume Dasquie on Wednesday after searching his flat. He has been charged with possessing and divulging secret defense documents.
The United Nations Refugee Agency has warned that many areas of Iraq are still too dangerous for refugees to return to. More than 25,000 refugees are believed to have returned to Iraq since mid September in the hope of restarting their lives. But a UNHCR official William Spindlams said that those going home could face poor living conditions, problems in recovering their property and difficulty in finding work. Our position is that the situation in Iraq is not yet conducive to large-scale returns, we are not promoting or facilitating in any way returns to Iraq. However, people have the right to return to the country and if they feel that they can return, they are the best judges for that. But in our view, the situation in Iraq is not yet conducive to returning because of the lack of security, lack of services and so on.
International negotiators have failed to break the deadlock over a bid for independence by the Albanian majority in the Serbian province of Kosovo. Diplomats say neither Serbia nor the Kosovo Albanians will give way on the key question of sovereignty. Correspondents say Kosovo is expected to declare independence in the next few months.
And one of America's biggest sports stars, the baseball player, Barry Bonds has pleaded not guilty to charges of perjury and obstructing justice in an investigation into performance enhancing drugs. He is accused of lying under oath when he said he didn't knowingly take steroids supplied by a company called BALCO which has been the subject of a major investigation.
BBC news.