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Posted by: veganapanda on: February 13, 2015

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At 4pm Today (Feb. 13), Music Legend Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd) and Saeed Siddique, Shaker Aamer’s Father-in-Law, Attend US Embassy with Giant Valentine’s Day Card for Shaker Aamer, the Last British Prisoner in Guantánamo, signed by 60 MPs and Celebrities 

Protest Called After US Ambassador Refuses to Accept Delivery of Valentine’s Day Card by MPs and Celebrities

Celebrity photos available

​Actress Juliet Stevenson with a Valentine’s Day card for Shaker Aamer
At 4pm today (Friday February 13), Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd) and Saeed Siddique, the father-in-law of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, will join other celebrities and supporters of the We Stand With Shaker <http://westandwithshaker.org/>  campaign, who were planning to hand in a giant Valentine’s Day card for Mr. Aamer today, the day before the 13th anniversary of his arrival at Guantánamo. He has twice been approved for release by the US authorities – under President Bush in 2007 and under President Obama in 2009 – and yet, disgracefully, is still held.

The organisers had originally been told that they would be able to hand in the giant card – addressed to the US Ambassador, Matthew W. Barzun – to the Embassy, but permission was refused on Wednesday. MPs from the newly established Shaker Aamer Parliamentary Group, which has cross-party support and is led by John McDonnell MP, had been intending to hand in the card, along with celebrities involved in the We Stand With Shaker campaign.

The front of the card states, “There is no love in Guantánamo,” and the message inside reads: “We urge you to ask President Obama to secure the immediate release from Guantánamo of British resident Shaker Aamer. Please tell the president we want Shaker returned to his loved ones in London now.” The full list of signatories on the card is below.

At 4pm, Roger Waters, Saeed Siddique and other supporters of the campaign will join co-directors Joanne MacInnes and Andy Worthington with the giant Valentine’s Day card and the giant inflatable figure of Shaker Aamer that is at the heart of the campaign, and they will be available for a photo opportunity and for interviews.

Responding to the news, Andy Worthington said, “This is typical of the manner in which Shaker Aamer continues to be treated with disdain by the US authorities. The Ambassador is snubbing British MPs, and in the meantime we hear that, despite David Cameron discussing Shaker’s case with Barack Obama last month, defense secretary Chuck Hagel apparently knows nothing about it.”

He added: “The Ambassador should welcome a visit from the MPs, President Obama should take the necessary steps to secure Shaker’s release, and David Cameron must renew calls for his release and return to the UK with far more vigour than he has shown to date. It is intolerable that Shaker Aamer is about to begin his 14th year of imprisonment without charge or trial at Guantánamo, when he was first told he would be going home eight long years ago.”

Signatories to the Valentine’s Day card for Shaker Aamer:

John McDonnell MP (Labour, Hayes and Harlington)

David Davis MP (Conservative, Haltemprice and Howden)

Caroline Lucas MP (Green, Brighton Pavilion)

Mark Durkan MP (SDLP, Foyle)

Mike Weir MP (SNP, Angus)

Andrew Mitchell MP (Conservative, Sutton Coldfield).

Joan Ruddock MP (Labour, Lewisham Deptford)

Alistair Burt MP (Conservative, North East Bedfordshire)

Sadiq Khan MP (Labour, Tooting, and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice)

Dr. Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat, Cambridge)

Gavin Shuker MP (Labour and Cooperative, Luton South)

Sir Bob Russell MP (Liberal Democrat, Colchester)

Andy Slaughter MP (Labour, Hammersmith)

Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru, Arfon)

Stephen Timms MP (Labour, East Ham)

Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour, East Bolton)

Jeremy Corbyn MP (Labour, Islington North)

John Leech MP (Liberal Democrat, Manchester Withington)

Diane Abbott MP (Labour, Hackney North and Stoke Newington)

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC (Labour, House of Lords)

Clive Stafford Smith, Director, Reprieve

Kate Allen, Director, Amnesty International UK

Shami Chakrabarti, Director, Liberty

Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations

Roger Waters, musician (ex-Pink Floyd)

Cori Crider, lawyer, Reprieve

Carol Ann Duffy, Poet Laureate

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singer

Janet Ellis, actress/broadcaster

Juliet Stevenson, actress

Mark Rylance, actor

Frankie Boyle, comedian

Jeremy Hardy, comedian

Harriet Walter, actress

Bill Paterson, actor

Julie Hesmondhalgh, actress

Rhys Ifans, actor

Bill Nighy, actor

Sara Pascoe, comedian

Peter Oborne, journalist and author

Nick Davies, journalist and author

Jemima Khan, journalist

Bianca Jagger, President and Chief Executive, Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation

Anna Perera, author, Guantanamo Boy

Shaykh Suliman Ghani, TV presenter and teacher

Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

Dr. David Nicholl, neurologist

Gillian Slovo, novelist and playwright

Lisa Appignanesi, writer

Dr. Saleyha Ahsan, doctor and journalist

Charlie Winston, musician

Ken Loach, film director

Mike Leigh, film director

David Lan, artistic director of Young Vic

Nicolas Kent, theatre director

Carol Anne Grayson, writer/researcher

David Knopfler, musician

Sarah Gillespie, musician

SE (His Excellency) Prince Stefano Massimo di Roccasecca dei Volsci

Susie Orbach, psychotherapist and writer

Lindsay German, Chair of Stop The War

John Rees, presenter of The Report, Islam Channel

Joanne MacInnes, We Stand With Shaker

Andy Worthington, We Stand With Shaker

Joy Hurcombe, Chair, Save Shaker Aamer Campaign