Blair Calls for an End to Guantanamo Prison Camp

British Prime Minister Tony Blair strayed from his own personal party line and openly criticized the United States’ policy regarding the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Addressing a committee of legislators on Tuesday, Blair called the camp "an anomaly that at some point has got to be brought to an end."

Friction is growing between Downing Street and the White House over the detention of four Britons at the prison camp where international terror suspects are being held under the title of "enemy combatants" in the war on terror. Many have been denied counsel and have had no formal charges brought against them.

The prime minister confirmed to the House of Commons Liaison Committee that he had personally asked U.S. President George W. Bush to free the four remaining British suspects detained in the camp. Five other Britons who spent up to two years in U.S. custody at the base were released to British officials in March, and were soon freed without charge.

However, Blair said that Washington continued to insist that the British government must guarantee the men will not pose a threat, either to Britain or elsewhere in the world.

"The American response has been the same all the way through. In the end, if the trial requirements do not meet our standards then they will come back, but we also need to make sure that they are not going to be a threat either to people in this country or elsewhere and that is the nature of the discussion that is taking place," he added.

"I hope we can resolve it reasonably soon. But I do not think the US is being unreasonable in saying we need to make sure that there is proper security in place for these people."

Committee addresses influence of Bush

The prime minister went onto address the speculation surrounding friction in his close relationship with President Bush and the political problems the friendship has caused him on the domestic front. "I am not daft about the politics of it. I can see, particularly in my own political family, it is a problem from time to time," said Blair, who has faced intense criticism within his Labor Party over the Iraq war and his alignment with the conservative U.S. administration.

"I don't think this country should ever let itself be ashamed of its relationship with the United States of America or believe that Britain is America's poodle."

Questions raised over fairness of partnership

Fearing Britain is now bogged down in a guerrilla war in Iraq over which it has no control, several lawmakers have called on Blair to distance himself from the Bush administration, or at least demonstrate the influence he claims to have in Washington. Question marks remain over whether Blair is getting a raw deal from the transatlantic relationship, a point examined by members of the committee.

"Surely we, the country, have a right to know, where we have gone to war, where you have put yourself shoulder to shoulder with the Americans ... what are we getting in return?" asked Conservative lawmaker Edward Leigh. "Hasn't he let you down? Has he delivered his side of the bargain to you, given all the political capital you have expended in his behalf?" Leigh continued, referring to Blair's slump in opinion polls since the war.

Blair responded by denying it was a "quid pro quo" relationship in which "every so often they throw us a scrap."

In last months local and European elections, Blair’s Labor Party suffered humiliating defeats across the board as the nation used the first major poll since the invasion of Iraq to show its protest at the prime minister’s decision to go to war. Opinion polls also show a majority of Britons dislike the U.S. president and disapprove of Blair's close relationship with him.

WMD admission not one of error

The prime minister also admitted that weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq. While not conceding that this meant there were none in the first place, it was the closest Blair had come to an admittance of error on the case for going to war.

''We know Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but we know we haven't found them. I have to accept we have not found them, that we may not find them. They could have been removed, they could have been hidden, they could have been destroyed. But I do not believe there was not a threat in relation to weapons of mass destruction.''

European newspapers seized on Blair's comments. Germany's Berliner Zeitung saw the admission as "no more than a tactical move" and argued that Blair had "made a fool of himself" by repeatedly claiming that sooner or later something would be found.

Meanwhile Le Temps in Switzerland wrote: "With a simple sentence, Tony Blair started a verbal retreat which he hopes will draw a line under the stumbling block that Iraq has become... and will enable him to tackle a long run-up to elections free from such a hindrance."