UK law chief attacks Guantanamo trials plan

Britain's Attorney-General has launched a stinging attack on President Bush's " unacceptable" plans for military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. Lord Goldsmith will make clear the British Government's objections to the tribunals, saying they do not meet the " international standards" of a fair trial.

In a speech to the International Criminal Law Association this evening in Paris, he will say there are certain principles "which cannot be compromised".

He will say: "While we must be flexible and be prepared to countenance some limitation of fundamental rights if properly

justified and proportionate, there are certain principles on which there can be no compromise.

"Fair trial is one of those - which is the reason we in the UK have been unable to accept that the US military tribunals proposed for those detained at Guantanamo Bay offer sufficient guarantees of a fair trial in accordance with international standards."

President Bush announced last July the 600 terror suspects held at the Cuban camp would be tried by military commission. Initially two of the four British nationals still at the camp, Feroz Abbasi from Croydon and Moazzam Begg from Birmingham, were set to face the tribunal.

But their names were taken off the list while talks continue between London and Washington over the future of the British detainees.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said the men should be tried in accordance with international law or returned to the UK. But the Attorney-General's comments mark an escalation in British rhetoric against the US policy. Five other Britons held at Guantanamo Bay were handed over to British custody in March and released without charge.