13/12/2015 BBC Weekend News

The last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay speaks

Shaker Aamer says he was tortured by US military personnel -

and claims a British official was present.

I felt my head, boom, boom, boom against the wall. All I remember, my

head just keeps banging the wall, back and forth, back and forth.

He was held after being captured in Afghanistan -

and denies he was ever a member of the Taliban or Al Qaida.

France goes to the polls - with the Far Right National Front

Two days to lift off - British astronaut Tim Peake prepares

for his mission to the International Space Station.

And Arsenal go to the top of the Premier League -

leaving Aston Villa - rooted to the bottom.

The last British resident held at Guantanamo Bay -

Shaker Aamer - has been speaking to the BBC about his fourteen years

as a prisoner and his joy at being reunited with his family.

He was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 - and allowed to return

He denies ever being a member of the Taliban or al Qaeda

and alleges that a British agent witnessed him being

Our Home Editor Mark Easton reports.

For the first time, we can see and hear the man from Britain

who the Americans kept locked up in Guantanamo

Bay for 14 years without charge or trial.

Released and sent back to the UK two months ago,

Shaker Aamer has been telling his story to the BBC.

Allegations of extreme violence and mistreatment by US soldiers that

began, he says, at the American airbase at Bagram, in Kabul,

He'd been in the country with his family doing

charity work, he says, when he was abducted and handed over

His most explosive allegation, though, is that a British agent

witnessed American interrogators repeatedly banging his head

against a wall, despite UK denials they had any knowledge of torture.

And all I remember, that my head keeps

Are you adamant that there was an English officer,

intelligence officer, agent, in that room when your head

I would say 80, 90%, I have no doubt he's an Englishman.

Because the way he spoke, the way he's very careful,

the way he was sitting far away, looking at me,

And because the day before I met John Hall, who already told me

The UK security services have always denied claims

To underline the point, the Foreign Office has issued

a statement to save the UK Government

doesn't participate in, encourage or solicit or condone

In all his time in Guantanamo, Shaker Aamer was never

charged with any wrongdoing, and never faced trial.

Indeed, he claims, while there he wanted to make a video appealing

to Islamic State executioner, Jihadi John, to save the life

Since his return he's denounced the murder

of Fusilier Lee Rigby and said terrorists who were angry

with Britain should get the hell out.

Both Labour and Conservative Foreign Secretaries

raised his case with the Americans over many years and he continues

None of the allegations is true they've been saying about me.

They said you were and Al-Qaeda operative.

Prove anything that you said is true, prove it, prove it

Finally back in the UK, Shaker Aamer met his four

children, including a 14-year-old son he'd never seen,

They look at me and, trying to know, who is this person?

Through their eyes I feel like they are looking at a stranger.

He's a stranger, too, to the British public.

Many will inevitably view Shaker Aamer with suspicion,

but he says he'll devote his freedom to

campaigning for the final closure of Guantanamo Bay.

And you can watch the full interview with Shaker Amer

And you can watch the full interview with Shaker Aamer

on the Victoria Derbyshire programme tomorrow morning from 9.15

Votes are being cast in France in a second round of regional

elections, after last week's first round saw a strong performance

The party led by Marine le Pen is hoping to gain control

for the first time of at least one French region.

Lucy Williamson's report from Paris contains some flash photography.

For Marine Le Pen, popularity has always been a double-edged sword

and this second round of voting the toughest test.

Often triggering a backlash from the supporters of this man,

President Hollande's Socialist party has pulled out of some races

Staff at this polling station in Paris said turnout was much

higher than in the first round, a sign of the deep divisions opening

Former governments didn't really reach their expectations.

People today are looking for more extreme solutions.

TRANSLATION: Marine Le Pen is going to win, I've been saying

Maybe it'll make all those politicians stop and think.

This election isn't only about regional power,

With a presidential poll here just 18 months away, it's a chance to see

it's a chance to see what place the far right now occupies

In the first round of voting, the National Front were ahead

in almost half of France's 13 regions.

Winning even one would be a major coup.

Their chances are seen as strongest in the north.

Everybody says we want change, we want to see new people,

we want to see different people, because the other one,

If you look at what is new in the French political life,

The Paris attacks also helped boost support for the FN.

Others say it's their Nationalist policies they are afraid of.

One month on from the attacks, France confronts its many

The Energy and Climate Change Secretary Secretary Amber Rudd has

been defending the government's decision to cut some subsidies

She called last night's international agreement reached

in Paris "an extraordinary achievement" - but admitted

that the deal was "not perfect" - because parts of it are voluntary.

Our correspondent Daniel Boettcher has more details.

There is to be a review of progress every five years, so commitments can

be made tougher. The long-term aim for in house gases is that emissions

should peak as soon as possible, then the cut as soon as possible to

a point where no more are omitted than nature can suck up. There

should be the equivalent of ?65 billion a year to hop poorer

countries as they adapt to climate change and get clean technology.

It's less than someone did. Critics say the deal contains two little

that is legally binding, including the commitment individual countries

have made on how they will cut emissions. Amber Rudd, energy

Secretary, defended the process. Do you want gunboat diplomacy? What we

have is the political will, the countries have agreed to do this,

they have to come forward with the proposals. What you saw at the

conference over the past few weeks will support from several sired two,

NGOs and from businesses, who will help to pay for this. The government

said it would shut written's remaining coal-fired power stations

by 2025, meaning more gas plants. It has been criticised for curbing

subsidies for renewable energy and some believe the Paris deal will

have to mean a fundamental rethink. The current policies fall far short

of what we would need to do to match our commitments in Paris, week after

not go ahead with the new gas-fired power stations, no development of

shale gas and look to close down the oil and gas industry in the UK as

soon as possible. All the pledges countries have made so far won't

reach the targets the agreement set out. It means more tough

negotiations ahead. Downing Street insists

the Prime Minister will continue to push for EU migrants to have

to wait four years before they can claim in-work benefits,

when he attends a European David Cameron is facing criticism

of his plans from both the right and the left - as our Political

Correspondent Carole Walker reports. The Prime Minister has been touring

European capitals ahead of this week's crucial summit

to discuss his demands. Last week, Poland's prime minister

was just the latest to object to his plan to limit

benefits to EU migrants, saying they did not see eye

to eye on the issue. But Eurosceptics in his party say

Mr Cameron should be asking for much more, the return of significant

powers from Brussels to Britain. If he doesn't come back with some

increase in powers to govern ourselves, I fear I would,

for the first time in my life, I voted to stay in in 1975,

but I would vote to leave in those The Prime Minister set

out his negotiating position in a letter last month

to the president of the European Council,

Donald Tusk. He wants more competitiveness,

more protection from countries outside the Eurozone,

an opt out from the commitment to ever closer union

and restrictions on benefits for EU migrants, including

the four-year delay before they can Downing Street insists

that there is no change in the Prime Minister's

position, that when he talks to other EU leaders

over dinner at this week's Summit, he will press

for the four-year limit on benefits But as he has said before,

he is open to different ways of dealing with public concerns

about the scale of migration One pro-European campaigner

said he could get around the problem by imposing the same

limits on British citizens. Most other European countries

have a system where you contribute, so there is a contributory

system to benefits. That was the original idea

of the Labour government in 1945, This week's Summit will be critical

for the Prime Minister if he is to keep his programme

of negotiations on track. No one is expecting agreement this

week, but David Cameron will be hoping for significant progress

towards a deal which he can put In two days' time -

the British astronaut Tim Peake will blast off from a base

in Kazakhstan, bound At the launch site, final

preparations are underway - and Tim Peake's parents have been

speaking about their son's mission. This report from our

Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh As dawn breaks, a Russian-built

rocket emerges into the new day. It's the only vehicle that can be

used to get to the Space Station. Here is the Soyuz

rocket, making its way You can see the boosters

and then the main engine, the second stage, which will give

it its final push, and behind that is

the spacecraft in white. This is where the astronauts

will sit, and it's only this part that will reach the

International Space Station. This week, Tim Peake and his fellow

crew members took a look They wore caps so that they wouldn't

leave any hair that would float around the capsule once

they're in zero gravity. and bathed in the soft winter

sunlight, among the crowds, Tim Peake's parents,

who had made the long journey from his

hometown in Chichester. Tim says he is not worried,

but as his mum, how do you feel? We've had a lot of help and support

from the European Space Agency, and they have taken us

through every step, so I feel confident that we know

what is happening, and I'm excited. He's happy, they are

all together Immensely proud, and a bit overawed

when you get here and see the scale Then, the rocket is pointed

towards the skies. Tim has trained for this mission

for the last few years, and he's joining an international

crew, doing fantastically important science, but even more, we hope,

inspiring the next generation of young people to be excited

about the possibilities Engineers are now readying

the rocket for launch, when the union flag will be

on the International Space Station I'm at the headquarters of the

Russian space agency here. Their engineers are making their final

preparations for Tim Peake's historic mission. There's still a

lot of work to do to get the rocket ready for refuelling and also

preparations. But they are on schedule for launch in two days'

time. With all the sport -

here's Karthi Gnanasegaram Arsene Wenger described it as a

perfect week as his side went top of the Premier League table after

reaching the last 16 of the Champions League midweek. Arsenal

2-0 winners over Aston Villa who remain stuck at the bottom. UCAS or

in 15th place after beating Tottenham this evening while a late

equaliser gave Liverpool a 2-2 draw with West Brom, Patrick Geary

reports. For Arsenal, the summit was in sight, beat Aston Villa and they

would climb top. It took a few minutes for Theo Walcott to find a

suitable path. When he hit an obstacle he pleaded the case for the

prosecution, the referee delivered his verdict. Penalty. Over to

Olivier Giroud for sentencing. His fourth in five days. Villa already

have the look of the condemned, short on points and hope, short on

defenders here. Effortlessly by past by Arsenal. Arsenal's challenge was

to stay at their peak. At Tottenham they were studying the table, the

top four in reach for them. The first half-hour was best spent

looking at your phone, but Spurs can light up with a flick, that flick

Eric Dier. They began to find the necessary urgency, Newcastle, if not

the accuracy. RBC said got his angles wrong. They kept asking

questions, causing enough problems to equalise. -- Cisse. They weren't

done, Spurs hadn't been beaten since the opening day but Newcastle

created the slightest of openings and the biggest of goals. The

Premier League's season of surprises springs another one.

Celtic have a four point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership

after a 3-0 win over Saint Johnstone. Nadir Ciftci scored

twice. Celtic have only lost one game so far this season. Anthony

Joshua has become the British heavyweight boxing champion after

knocking out Dillian Whyte in the seventh round at the O2 Arena in

London. Josh made it 15 straight knockouts with a victory over

Dillian Whyte last night. He turned professional after winning

superheavyweight gold at the London Olympics. Saracens have maintained

their unbeaten start to the European Champions Cup campaign. They beat

their opponents 25-10. Saracens ran in six tries, this giving them the

bonus point. Owen Farrell kicked 13 points. Wasps nine, Bath 15 at the

moment at half-time in their European Champions Cup game. Chris

and Gaby have become the first British pair to win the mixed

doubles title at the world admittance super series in Dubai. --