Sixth Briton sent to US prison camp

A motorcycle courier from London who was arrested in Africa has become the sixth Briton to be sent to America's maximum security camp for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Foreign Office confirmed yesterday that Martin Mubanga, 29, who is believed to be from north-west London and holds British and Zambian nationality, was arrested by authorities in Zambia. He is understood to have been handed over to the United States by Zambian officials last month and transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that a seventh Briton was among 32 prisoners flown from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan to the American naval base on the Cuban coast on 1 May. The British contingent at Guantanamo Bay is now larger than that of any other Western country. And two more Britons are believed to be among suspects still being questioned in Kandahar.

Mr Mubanga, whose family is thought to have moved from Zambia to Britain in the 1970s, is said to have been raised as a Catholic but converted to Islam in his twenties. Unconfirmed reports said that he had attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and had fought alongside Taliban and al-Q'aida forces against Allied troops.

He is the third British al-Q'aida suspect of African descent to be held in Cuba. Feroz Abbasi, 22, a former computer student from Croydon, was born in Uganda but moved to Britain with his mother when he was eight. Also detained at the camp is a Mancunian website designer, Jamal Udeen, 35, who is of African descent and converted to Islam about eight years ago.

Mr Mubanga, said to be one of four children and the son of a former Zambian government official, is believed to have lived with his family on a council estate in Wembley before moving to a flat in nearby Dollis Hill four years ago.

A Foreign Office spokes-woman said officials had been in contact with Mr Mubanga's family and an offer of consular assistance has been made. She said: "Our consular officials would be available to his next of kin to offer assistance if it's wanted. We are in contact with his next of kin... but they have asked us to respect Mr Mubanga's privacy so we cannot comment further."

The Foreign Office said British officials played no part in the decision to hand over Mr Mubanga to the American authorities. "As a dual national, Mr Mubanga was treated as a Zambian national when detained there," a spokesman said. "Under international law we are unable to interfere in the judicial processes of other countries."

The other Britons being held at Guantanamo are Shafiq Rasul, 22, Asif Iqbal, 21, and Ruhal Ahmed, 20, all from Tipton in the West Midlands. As in the cases of Mr Abbasi and Mr Udeen, they were captured in Afghanistan.