Last British resident held in Guantánamo Bay: leave us to die in peace In the 12 years since his arrest he has never been charged with a crime and both the Bush and Obama administrations cleared him for release from Guantánamo. His emotive remarks to CBS will add to pressure on the British government to secure his return to prison in the UK. Both David Cameron and and Nick Clegg have raised the issue with the White House in the last year but - despite President Barack Obama's commitment to close the prison - Mr Aamer remains in custody. Mr Aamer is a Saudi national but has permanent residency in Britain and his British wife and four children live in Battersea, south London. He has never met his youngest son, who was born after his capture Classified US files allege Mr Aamer was "a close associate" of Osama bin Laden who commanded al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. He has denied the claims, saying he was in Afghanistan living with family and working for an Islamic charity. The US has never offered a public explanation for why Mr Aamer has not been transferred to Britain, despite being slated for release and the repeated requests from the British government. Clive Stafford-Smith, his British lawyer, said he suspects that while the British government is sincere in its requests the "US and UK intelligence services appear to be working together to ensure Shaker stays where he is or gets shipped off to Saudi Arabia." Mr Stafford-Smith said he believed spies on both sides of the Atlantic were anxious Mr Shaker would claim to have seen incidents of torture during his imprisonment in Guantánamo and Afghanistan. Mr Aamer, known as detainee 239, shouted out as the CBS crew walked past with Colonel John Bogdan, the commander of the military prison. Authorities usually prevent the media from broadcasting the words of detainees but Reprieve, the British human rights group, said the military may have allowed it because "the consequences of censoring America's most powerful news programme would outweigh the embarrassment of allowing a prisoner to tell the world what is happening there." The CBS footage offers a rare glimpse of the heavily-secured hallway Mr Shaker is kept in, where guards keep a constant vigil, and appears to briefly show the inmate waving his hand at the camera. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Mr Aamer's case remains a high priority for the UK government and we continue to make clear to the US that we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency." The spokesman said the Foreign Office was confident that the US "understands the seriousness of the UK's request for Mr Aamer's release" but that the decision ultimately remains with the American government. Mr Obama was elected in 2008 on a promise to close the controversial prison but his efforts were stymied by opposition from Republicans in Congress. The president, who is a former constitutional law professor, vowed to make a new push to shut the camp after his re-election, saying it had "become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law." Mr Obama has appointed two senior officials to plot a pathway to closing the prison but in recent months little visible progress has been made. Of the 164 men still held in the camp, 84 including Mr Aamer have been cleared for release. Of the remaining prisoners, 24 are expected to face trial by military commission but 47 face the prospect of indefinite detention without trial. A further nine have have already been charged.