Five Britons at Guantanamo to Be Returned Home

LONDON -- Five Britons being held at Guantanamo Bay will be returned within the next few weeks, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday.

Discussions about four other prisoners were continuing, he told a news conference.

Straw said they could be taken into custody when returned.

"Once the detainees are back in the UK, I understand that the police will consider whether to arrest them under the Terrorism Act 2000 for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity," he said.

Britain has been pressing for months for assurances that the nine men would either face trials that comply with international standards, or be repatriated.

Regarding the Britons who will remain in Cuba, Straw said: "There are a range of security and other issues which we and the Americans need to consider in respect of these four men."

Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi, who had been listed among the first Guantanamo detainees likely to face trial, were among the four who would not be returned immediately, Straw said. The other two were identified as Richard Belmar and Martin Mubanga.

He insisted that those four Britons would be tried "in accordance with international standards or returned to the UK."

Negotiations about the British detainees have ground along for months. Prime Minister Tony Blair had said in October that he expected the issue to be settled within weeks.

Asked about the delay, Straw said: "It was an entirely unique situation."

He said authorities had obtained useful information from the British detainees. "Valuable intelligence has indeed been obtained and it has helped to make the world a safer place," Straw said.

The five to return were identified as Rhuhel Ahmed, Tarek Dergoul, Jamal al-Harith, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul.

"There have been many complex issues of law and security which both governments have had to consider," Straw said.

"Although significant progress has been made, in the attorney general's view the military commissions as presently constituted would not provide the type of process which we would afford British nationals. Our discussions are continuing," he said.