Britain to review legal basis of relations with Bermuda over Guantánamo row

[struggle4progress]

Foreign Office tells island's prime minister he had no right to agree to take Uighur inmates without consulting London
* Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
* guardian.co.uk, Friday 12 June 2009 17.40 BST

... The US transfer to Bermuda of four Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, represents an acute embarrassment for the British government, which is supposed to oversee the foreign and security policy of the British overseas territory.

In angry telephone exchanges with Bermuda's prime minister, Ewart Brown, UK officials have contested his right to negotiate the transfer of the four Uighurs from US custody without consulting Britain ...

Under a 1968 understanding known as the general entrustment, Bermuda has the right to conduct external relations "on behalf of" Britain, on condition that London is consulted before agreements with other states are entered. At issue is whether the prison transfer represented such a formal agreement, or simply a local immigration matter. The Foreign Office insisted the matter was "a security issue for which the Bermuda government does not have delegated responsibility" ...

Taken by surprise by news of the Uighurs arrival, Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, is understood to have had an uneasy telephone conversation with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, about why London was not told. Clinton reportedly said the US had assumed that Bermuda had agreed the move with Britain before agreeing to host the Uighurs ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/12/guantanamo-bay-bermuda

[Demeter]

1. Sour Grapes?

Maybe Britain wanted the "Gitmo Subsidy" for itself?