DAVID Cameron is to press for the release of the last British resident being held in Guantanamo Bay during his final visit to Washington before the General Election, UK Government sources have confirmed.
Shaker Aamer, a Saudi who is married to a Briton, claimed to be undertaking charity work when in 2001 he was captured in Afghanistan and handed over to the US military. He has not been charged with any crime and was cleared for release in 2007 from the American naval base in Cuba.
Clive Stafford Smith, Mr Aamer's lawyer, welcomed the Prime Minister's move but said it was not enough.
"He has said this before and little has come of it. Rather than just raising Shaker's case, Mr Cameron must come back from Washington with a concrete date for Shaker's return home to London," said Mr Stafford Smith, who is director of the charity Reprieve.
The first part of the PM's visit will focus on the economy with the announcement of deals worth more than £1.1 billion, which will create 1,700 jobs across the UK.
Mr Cameron will join Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, to co-host a roundtable discussion on the global economic outlook for 2015 before travelling to the White House for a working dinner with President Barack Obama focused on economic issues.
The second part of his trip will focus on security, particularly in wake of the Paris terror attacks.
In a joint article, the two leaders wrote: "As we meet today at the White House, we reaffirm our belief that our ability to defend our freedoms is rooted in our economic strength, and the values that we cherish; freedom of expression, the rule of law, and strong democratic institutions."
Tomorrow, the talks will focus on national security, particularly tackling the threat of violent extremism and the radicalisation of young people, including the response to the terror attacks in Paris last week.
The PM will meet with a number of cybersecurity businesses and, in an unusual move for a foreign leader, will also visit America's cybertaskforce operations.
In a second bilateral with the US President, Mr Cameron will discuss how the two countries can strengthen relations on cybersecurity not just in terms of government to government but also in terms of the private sector. Other issues on the table will include Syria, Iraq, Iran and Russia.
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