London man held at Camp X-ray

A team of British officials has today confirmed that three UK nationals are being held as al Qaida suspects at Camp X-Ray in Cuba.

The three, including Croydon man Feroz Abbasi had no complaints about their treatment and were in good physical health, Downing Street said.

The announcement comes amid a massive and still-growing row over the way the prisoners are being treated.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had asked the British contingent on the spot to investigate the circumstances behind pictures which show the prisoners masked, kneeling and shackled.

The Government is keen to avoid any open rift with Washington but it is clear that ministers up to and including Mr Blair are acutely concerned at the reports of the way the captives were flown to Cuba and are being held in cages.

Tory former defence minister Nicholas Soames warned that the issue could damage the international coalition against terrorism.

Ministers are today seeking to turn the spotlight to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, as International Development Secretary Clare Short announced that Britain is to give more than £200 million to repair the damage done by war and by the Taliban. Britain's contribution was announced at an international aid conference in Tokyo which is expected to amass help worth up to $5 billion.

However, the row over the treatment of the Camp X-ray prisoners in Cuba was fuelled after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed criticism as "shrill" and ill-informed.

As 34 new Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners brought the total at the US Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to 144, Mr Rumsfeld said: "I think that the people who have been the most shrill on the subject, once they have more knowledge of the subject, will stop being so shrill. These are very tough, hardcore, well-trained terrorists."

He said their treatment was "proper" and added: "It is humane and appropriate and consistent with the Geneva Convention for the most part."

Mr Rumsfeld spoke out after a weekend of attacks on the detainees' treatment, including calls from Britain for an explanation of published photographs showing the shaven-headed terrorist suspects kneeling, manacled, and wearing masks and gloves.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "Prisoners, regardless of their technical status, should be treated humanely and in accordance with customary international law."

Briton Feroz Abbasi, 22, a former computer studies student, was reportedly taken prisoner in northern Afghanistan last month, a year after he left home having become involved with Muslim extremists at Finsbury Park mosque.

His friend Michael Driver today told the Evening Standard: "Feroz became interested in Islam about three years ago but I cannot believe the news about his links to al Qaeda."

Mr Abbasi's mother, Zumrati Juma, said: "I hope the Americans will not use the death penalty."

Meanwhile, new evidence emerged linking British shoe bomber Richard Reid to a European network of Islamic fanatics. French police found he sent emails to addresses around Europe confessing to trying to blow up a Paris to Miami flight last Christmas.

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