Tariq Mahmood is a married father of two from Sparkhill, Birmingham.[2] The former taxi driver flew to Pakistan in 2001 to settle a land dispute over a family home there.[8]
Arrest
In October 2003, Mahmood was held on suspicion of being associated with a "banned organization" under the Security of Pakistan Act, Section 10,[9] and was not given immediate access to courts despite his British citizenship.[10]
Mahmood was initially assigned a 10 November 2003 court date in Islamabad, and made court appearances over the following four weeks.[9][10] However, despite the ongoing legal process, his whereabouts became unclear by early 2004.[8][11] Pakistani security reportedly turned him over to American forces, prompting fears he would be sent to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.[2] In February 2004, Pakistani intelligence sources indicated Tariq Mahmood had been transported to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, a "stepping stone" to Guantanamo Bay.[12]
On February 19, 2004, The Guardian listed the nine UK citizens then known to have been held in Guantanamo.[14]
They listed him as a possible 10th UK citizen held in Guantanamo. His presence in Guantanamo has never been confirmed.[15]
According to articles from The Guardian quoted in a report by a committee of the UK Parliament, Tariq is believed to have made his home in Dubai following his release in 2004.[5]
^"Opinion No. 29/2006"(PDF). United States Department of State. United Nations Human Rights Council, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. 2005-12-08. pp. 6, 8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
^"Fabricating Terrorism II: British complicity in renditions and torture"(PDF). Cageprisoners. 2009. Retrieved 2011-12-14. While he was being held by the Pakistanis, he was kept bound and hooded; however, from the accents of those who were interrogating him, he could quite easily discern that there were Pakistani, American and British interrogators questioning him.
^ abLisa Mccarthy; Evening Mail (2003-11-07). "My brother is innocent". icBirmingham. The Birmingham Post. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
^"Full list: Britons held at Guantanamo". The Guardian. 2004-02-19. Retrieved 2011-12-12. Tariq Mahmood, 30, from Birmingham, was arrested in Pakistan in October on suspicion of involvement with al-Qaida and he could be the 10th Briton held at the base, but justice pressure group Fair Trial Abroad said his whereabouts were currently unknown.mirror