US Bermuda deal sparks row with UK

Published on Friday 12 June 2009 22:13

A DIPLOMATIC row broke out yesterday after the US government transferred four Guantanamo Bay detainees to Bermuda without consulting the UK government.

Bermuda is a self-governing British overseas territory, but the UK retains responsibility for its external relations, defence and internal security.

The four men are Chinese Muslims detained in Afghanistan but who the US has decided are not "enemy combatants" after holding them at its prison camp in Cuba.

Downing Street yesterday pointed the finger of blame at the Bermudan government for acting beyond its powers.

But the Tories said Foreign Secretary David Miliband had questions to answer and suggested the government had effectively been asleep on the job.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "It is astonishing that an agreement of such significance between the US and Bermuda could have taken place without a ripple reaching Whitehall."

Mr Miliband has spoken to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have underlined to the Bermuda government that it should have consulted the UK on whether this falls within their competence or is a security issue for which the Bermuda government do not have delegated responsibility."