LONDON, July 11: British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced growing demands on Friday to press US President George W. Bush to send British terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay back home for trial to ensure they escape the death penalty.

Mr Blair will visit Bush in Washington on July 17 and British opposition politicians say he must prove that his much-vaunted US ties can deliver results.

“I think a special relationship has to be a two-way street,” Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said. “What we seem to be encountering at this stage is very much one-way traffic.”

US plans for military trials of a first batch of six foreigners — including Britons Feroz Abbasi, 23 and Moazzam Begg, 35 — have caused worldwide outrage and put a strain on the close Anglo-American political alliance.

Britain, which opposes the death penalty, says it has repeatedly expressed “reservations” over the military commissions which will try detainees in the Guantanamo Bay prison camp on Cuba, which was set up to house Taliban and al Qaeda suspects after the September 11 attacks.

But it also insists that detainees have provided — and could still offer — valuable information for the US-led “war on terror”.

Mr Blair’s spokesman said on Friday that repatriation was just one of several options under discussion with the United States, but declined to say whether Blair would raise the issue at Thursday’s talks.

One possible obstacle is that Britain’s independent prosecution service would have to make its own decision about whether the men should stand trial if repatriated. Nine Britons are currently in detention in Guantanamo Bay.

Two hundred and eighteen members of parliament — one third of the lower House of Commons — have signed a petition asserting the British detainees will not get a fair trial from US military tribunals and calling for their repatriation.

“I’ve always thought British prime ministers exaggerate the influence they have on the United States,” former Conservative minister Ken Clarke told reporters on Thursday. “If Blair’s got any influence at all he should bring this to an end.”

Amnesty International, which has condemned the tribunals as a “travesty of justice” also demanded Blair make the case for two businessmen — an Iraqi legally resident in Britain and a Jordanian with refugee status — being held in Guantanamo.

“For the UK to ignore its responsibilities in this manner is legally and morally wrong,” Amnesty said. “There should be immediate representation to the US authorities to ensure that the human rights of these men are upheld”.

Several countries have sought repatriation of their nationals from Guantanamo Bay, where over 600 people are being held. Saudi Arabia says it has had continuous talks with Washington to get more than 100 prisoners back home for trial. Several were returned in May but most remain. —Reuters