The United States has agreed to hand over evidence that may support a British resident’s claim that he was tortured into confessing that he was an al-Qaeda terrorist.

Binyam Mohamed will never find out about the identities of his interrogators – or the places where he claims to have been beaten and suspended by chains – because all names will be blacked out.

The London student’s lawyers claim that he will be denied justice at Guantanamo Bay because it will be impossible for his defence team to identify the correct witnesses to call. But in the High Court in London yesterday, Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones accepted that Mr Mohamed, 30, had now achieved everything that is “essential for a fair trial”.

The Ethiopian-born student insists that he admitted to plotting a 9/11-inspired atrocity to destroy flats in America with exploding gas only after guards sliced his penis with a scalpel. He was captured in Pakistan in 2002 while attempting to return to London on a false passport. American authorities tipped off the British and Mr Mohamed was questioned by MI5.

The Muslim convert admitted going to Afghanistan in an attempt to kick his drug habit and to see whether the Taleban was a good Islamic government. He had trained in camps and learnt how to sabotage the Americans.

While in US custody, Mr Mohamed disappeared for two years, during which time he believes he was taken to Morocco and Afghanistan before arriving at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

He now faces trial on charges – which carry a possible death sentence – of conspiring with Osama bin Laden and others to murder and attack civilians.

Mr Mohamed’s lawyers went to the High Court to force David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to hand over documents that back his claim to having been tortured. His confessions would be inadmissible to the US military court if obtained under duress.

Condoleezza Rice’s State Department gave warning that Britain’s security was threatened if Mr Miliband surrendered the “highly classified intelligence information”. Instead, US authorities have agreed to give edited versions of the material to Mr Mohamed’s military defence lawyer before trial.

Dr Rice’s lawyer told Mr Miliband that if the documents were disclosed in full it “would have only the marginal effects of serious and lasting damage to the US-UK intelligence-sharing relationship, and thus the national security of the United Kingdom”.

Mr Miliband’s lawyers told the High Court: “The intelligence relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom was vital to the national security of the United Kingdom. It was essential that the ability of the United States to communicate in confidence with the United Kingdom was protected.”

Clive Stafford Smith, Mr Mohamed’s lawyer, argued that the captive needed the full papers. “It was not possible to put forward BM’s case if the names of the relevant agents and relevant facilities were redacted. It would not be possible to secure witnesses or challenge the US Government’s refusal to call witnesses if they were not identified.”

dkennedy@thetimes.co.uk

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