British police release Guantanamo prisoners

Police have freed all five Britons flown home from Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after questioning them in a west London…

Police have freed all five Britons flown home from Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after questioning them in a west London police station.

The former terror suspects have begun denouncing their US captors amid questions about why they were held for two years.

The United States turned over the five detainees to British custody on Tuesday, and by last night police and prosecutors decided to release all of them without charge.

This could cause trouble for Prime Minister Tony Blair, who will face public dismay as to why it took Britain so long to win its citizens' freedom if authorities at home concluded they should not face trial.

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One of the five freed men was released on Tuesday and the other four last night, while a further four Britons remain at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba. Washington says they are more dangerous than the five it decided to send home.

Mr Greg Powell, lawyer for one of the freed men, said 21-year-old Mr Rhuhel Ahmed was on his way to a reunion with his family after being released just before midnight. He was one of three prisoners from Tipton, a small industrial town in the Midlands.

"He's on his way to meet his family and obviously that's a tremendous moment for all of them, because they haven't seen each other since 2001," Mr Powell said. He said he had met his client at the London jail where he was released and found him in good health. But his treatment at the hands of the Americans had amounted to "torture".

"What I have learned from him is Guantanamo Bay is a kind of experiment in interrogation techniques and methods, really. And they do have extremely interesting stories to tell about what went on there," Mr Powell said.

He declined to give further details about the prisoners' treatment, or explain what his client was doing in Afghanistan when he was arrested.

Mr Powell said Mr Ahmed's family wanted privacy. But the former prisoners will be at the centre of a media frenzy - which could prove a money-spinner if they opt to sell their stories. None of the five appeared in public immediately.

While Mr Blair's supporters see the prisoners' return as a peace dividend for his support of US President George W. Bush, the Guantanamo issue could remain a major political headache.

Britons will want to know why it took more than two years to get them out. Meanwhile, the fate of the four still in Guantanamo will stay high on the political agenda.

Britain says the Bush administration's plans for special military tribunals to try Guantanamo suspects do not measure up to basic fairness standards. It wants either the rules to be modified or the suspects sent back to Britain for trial.