Five Britons being held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been released today.
British officials had already announced the five would be freed shortly, and they are expected to be set free after being questioned by anti-terror police. They are now en route to Britain and are expected ti be taken to the high-security Paddington Green police station in west London.
Three of the five - Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqball and Rhuhel Ahmed - come from the same town, Tipton. The other two are Tarek Dergoul from London and Jamal al Harith from Manchester.
British Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett said he would prefer the four other Britons in detention at the camp be tried by the United States.
Mr Blunkett said the four still to be held were combatants or associated with combatants in Afghanistan, where a US-led invasion in 2001 overthrew the Taliban government that had been giving sanctuary to al-Qaeda militants.
"Evidence that has been picked up, we believe, is best used in the United States, not in Britain, because the people who evaluated that evidence, the people who hold that evidence are . . . those . . . who have been involved with the interrogation," he said.
He said Britain had made representations to the United States about the process under which the cases of detainees would be handled, insisting they be given legal representation and the right of appeal.
Britain has said in the past it wants the men to be tried in accordance with international standards or returned home.
Two of the four who are to remain captive at Guantanamo are among a small group designated for trial before military commissions.
Mr Blunkett was in the United States in part to discuss the case of the Guantanamo detainees with senior US officials.