Banker held in Bahrain calls for British help

A SCOTTISH banker who has been held in Bahrain for more than a year has called for the British government to intervene on his behalf.

Alastair MacLeod, who is being held with two British other bankers, Anthony James and Cliff Giddings, has written to Foreign Secretary William Hague asking him to help. The three men have been detained in the Gulf emirate since July last year.

They were held following the collapse of Awal Bank last year where they were senior managers. They say the British government has done little to help them.

An investigation into Awal Bank's collapse led to Mr Mac-Leod, who was the company's acting chief executive, and the other two men being forced to hand over their passports as part of a travel ban imposed on them by the Bahrainian authorities.

In a copy of the letter sent to Mr Hague, their lawyers urged him to "intervene urgently in order to assist our clients and to bring the violations of their rights to a speedy conclusion". None of the men has yet been charged with any offence by the Bahrain authorities and they have not been subject to any formal arrest since the forced closure of Awal Bank.

Legal opinion on their case written for them by the leading human rights barrister Hugh Tomlinson, QC, set out a damning indictment of the way Bahrain has handled the case and said the continuing travel ban was in breach of international law.

Several other foreign nationals have been detained in Bahrain as the investigation into Awal Bank's collapse continues, including Canadian and Irish citizens.

Mr MacLeod, who used to live in East Kilbride, once studied for a BA in social sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University.