Detainee's case to be heard in Washington

The American political counsellor in Europe has promised to present a dossier on Mr Deghayes's case, including cuttings from The Argus, to the White House.

He made the agreement at a meeting with Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas.

Others at the meeting in Brussels on Friday included Mr Deghayes' brother Abubaker and Jackie Chase and Thomas King, two campaigners from Brighton.

The group had travelled to Belgium to speak at an international conference on human rights, lobby MPs and visit the American ambassador.

When they arrived at the embassy, they were told the ambassador, with whom they had an appointment, could not make it so instead they spoke to Kyle Scott, the political counsellor to the US Mission in the European Union.

They presented a substantial legal dossier giving details of all the international laws and US domestic laws that were being broken at Guantanamo Bay.

They also gave Mr Scott a bundle of cuttings from The Argus about Mr Deghayes to demonstrate the popular support for the case.

Mr Scott told them that Guantanamo Bay was absolutely a necessary part of Operation Enduring Freedom - the war on terror - and that Mr Deghayes was an enemy combatant.

When pressed on this and presented with evidence that campaigners claim prove Mr Deghayes's innocence, Mr Scott said he was not familiar with the particular details of his case.

When asked about the hunger strike, Mr Scott could not comment on Mr Deghayes's condition but said there was no danger any detainee would die from starvation and it was US policy to engage in forcefeeding.

Mr Scott said following the meeting he would take time to read the dossier in detail and would then send it on to the White House.

He will make sure a response is sent to Dr Lucas.

Dr Lucas said: "Because of the Save Omar campaign's legal research and the public support and The Argus campaign, his case will be looked at in Washington. Popular pressure has led to results before so this is good news.

"I hope the White House will respond positively and quickly given that Omar's life is currently in danger due to the hunger strike.

"If the US hopes to promote democracy and respect for human rights in the Middle East, then it is essential that it does so at home as well."

Dr Lucas added that Mrs Chase, 48, of Grantham Road, Brighton, had performed excellently at the meeting.

She said: "I was very impressed with Jackie, who stayed extremely focused and did a great job of demonstrating the strength of public support for justice for Omar."