Month: April 2022

He was captured at a safehouse in Pakistan with a top al-Qaeda member in 2002, and accused of taking part in a plan to bomb the US.

But the US Department of Defense said his detention was no longer considered necessary.

It said Algeria had given assurances that he would be treated humanely.

In a statement, the department added that US authorities recommended that Mr Barhoumi could be sent back to his native country “subject to security… assurance”.

“The United States appreciates the willingness of Algeria, and other partners to support ongoing US efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing of the Guantanamo Bay facility,” the statement said.

The department provided no further details about Mr Barhoumi.

Algeria has not publicly commented on the issue.

With the latest release, 37 detainees remain – including 18 eligible for transfer – at Guantanamo Bay, which is part of a US naval base complex in south-eastern Cuba.

Since 2002, the detention facility has been used to hold what the US describes as captured unlawful combatants during America’s war on terror.

The moment came two or three days after the first Russian forces crossed into Ukraine on 24 February, when Ukrainian forces destroyed a column of Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers moving through the town of Bucha to the city of Kyiv.

The convoy was destroyed in one of the first of many Ukrainian ambushes that stopped the Russian advance dead.

Our BBC team was able to get to Bucha because during Friday the final Russian soldiers pulled out, as part of what the Kremlin has presented as a calm and rational decision to concentrate on the war in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow says, without proof or any reliability, that its war aims in central Ukraine have been achieved, and they never included capturing Kyiv.

The truth is that unexpectedly fierce and well organised Ukrainian resistance stopped them outside the capital, and the evidence includes the rusting and twisted wreckage of the column that still lies where it was destroyed on that suburban street.

Two or three weeks into the war the Russian invaders ran out of momentum. On the street in Bucha you can see why.

Elite troops from Russia’s airborne forces rode into the town in armoured vehicles light enough to be carried by aircraft. They came from Hostomel airport, a few miles away, which had been attacked and seized by Russian paratroopers landed by helicopter on the first day of the invasion. Even then, there was fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces.

When the column moved through Bucha on the way to Kyiv, they had a harsh awakening.

The road is narrow and straight, an ideal place for an ambush. Witnesses said the Ukrainians attacked the convoy with Bayraktar attack drones bought from Turkey. Other neighbours said Ukrainian territorial defence volunteers were also in the area.

However they did it, the lead vehicles and the ones bringing up the rear were knocked out and imprisoned the others. The wreckage has not been touched. Belts of 30mm cannon shells lie on the grass verge, along with many pieces of dangerous and damaged abandoned ordinance.

Young conscripts ran away, begging, local people said, not to be turned over to Ukrainian territorial defence. A man of around 70 who called himself uncle Hrysha, said: “I felt sorry for them. They were so young, 18 to 20, with their whole lives ahead of them.”

It looks as if Russians, as they prepared to pull out of Bucha, had no such pity. At least 20 dead men were lying in the street as Ukrainian troops entered the town. Some of them had their hands tied behind their backs. The mayor said they had buried 280 people in mass graves.

A few civilians who stayed said they had tried to avoid the Russians. They set up wood fires outside their Khrushchev-era flats, cooking on them outdoors because their gas, power and water were cut.

Volunteers are bringing supplies in from Lviv in western Ukraine, and from countries far from the war, geographically at least.

“This is the first bread we’ve had in 38 days,” said a woman called Maria, looking at a plastic bag with some modest looking buns inside. Her daughter Larysa showed me round the Soviet-built apartment building.

Many of the people who had left for safer areas, or abroad, had bolted shut security doors. The Russians removed them by ripping out the concrete lintels and door posts.

A few miles away, the trail of devastation leads to Hostomel airport. Russian airborne troops tried to use it as a base for a push into Kyiv.

The world’s largest transport plane was destroyed early on. The roof of the enormous hangar built for it was so riddled with a constellation of shrapnel holes. The plane itself, known by the Ukrainian word for dream (Mriya), lies there broken-backed, big chunks of fuselage and engine in places around it. Its fate is a parable of what is happening to Ukraine.

An enormous amount of national pride was invested in the aircraft, as a symbol of Ukraine’s ability make big projects all round the world.

Thames Valley Police said it happened at about 12:00 BST on Saturday. The pilot has been taken to John Radcliffe Hospital, but the extent of his injuries is unknown.

The new-build block of flats off Camp Road, Upper Heyford, were unoccupied and officers said nobody else was hurt.

An eye witness described seeing the pilot parachuting down on to the old RAF base.

Tisa Kilby, 55, said she was out walking her dogs when she saw the light aircraft hit the building.

“I looked up and literally saw this guy leap out of this plane and thought, that’s an odd place to be parachuting,” she said.

“Within four or five seconds the plane nose-dived and crashed into the block of flats.”

Ms Kilby said she had been told by police at the scene that the pilot had suffered life-changing injuries

South Central Ambulance Service said the victim, an “older gentleman” was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has launched an investigation and inspectors have begun searches.

Speaking with Ukraine’s president, the UK prime minister also acknowledged the “immense suffering being inflicted on civilians”, Downing Street said.

Ukraine says its military has retaken the entire region around the capital, as Russia has withdrawn from key towns.

Mr Johnson also updated Mr Zelensky on a recent military donor conference convened by the UK with 35 countries.

Speaking over the phone with the prime minister, the Ukrainian president gave an update on the steps towards peace negotiations and welcomed “further UK involvement in these diplomatic efforts”, Downing Street said.

Among the areas abandoned by Russia around the capital is Hostomel airport, as well as key battleground towns around the capital of Irpin and Bucha.

As Moscow’s forces retreat, evidence of civilian killings is mounting. In Bucha, a street has been found with at least 20 dead bodies of men in civilian clothes.

A Downing Street spokesperson said Mr Johnson “congratulated Ukraine’s brave armed forces” for their success in pushing back the Russian army in some areas.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of “continuing to ratchet up sanctions to increase the economic pressure” on Russian president Vladimir Putin, as long as Russian troops remained on Ukrainian territory.

Mr Johnson also updated Mr Zelensky on the progress made at a military donor conference and “committed to continue to step up defensive support”, the spokesperson added.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Zelensky described the UK as a “powerful ally” and added: “We look forward to the donors’ conference for Ukraine.”