British man Shaker Aamer could receive up to £1 million (€1.4m) in compensation from the British government following his release from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Britain’s final detainee is spending his first weekend with his family in nearly 14 years after he arrived back in Britain yesterday following his release from the US prison.
Mr Aamer, 46, is believed to be in line to receive a payout after deals were made with previous British detainees - but his legal team insist it is not the priority at the moment.
Referred to as detainee 239, Mr Aamer is said to be in poor health and is currently receiving medical treatment.
Before his release, he said his priority was to spend time with his family and the son he has never met.
Mr Aamer’s US lawyer, Cori Crider, said: "I do believe we ought to compensate people for their time. The reality is at this moment, no Guantanamo prisoner of any nationality has ever got so much as an apology from the US government.
"Now the culture of that in America is changing - a former Supreme Court justice has said in the past year that detainees held without trial and charge wrongly, just like Shaker Aamer, really ought to be given some kind of compensation."
However, in Britain 15 former detainees have received compensation.
They include Jamal al Harith who was freed in 2004 and is now believed to be fighting for Islamic State; Moazzam Begg who was released in 2005; and Omar Deghayes.
All three received out of court settlements thought to be in the region of £1m each.
At the time, British justice secretary Kenneth Clark said those payments were necessary to avoid an expensive legal battle and secret intelligence details being released in court.
Mr Aamer was originally detained in Afghanistan in 2001, accused of having links to al Qaeda. He was described in US military files as a "close associate of Osama bin Laden" who fought in the battle of Tora Bora.
However, Mr Aamer says he was doing charity work.
Some insist that despite his release, Mr Aamer is a man who has had serious questions asked about his past connections and conduct.
Colonel Morris Davis, former chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, said: "There is no guarantee that anyone that’s been released from Guantanamo won't do anything bad in the future, but it's un-American that we detain people on the slim chance that there could be some bad event in the future."
