UK Wants Prisoners Freed

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday sent a formal request to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice for the release of the five men, who are not nationals of Britain but who were legal residents of the country before they were detained at the US prison camp.

The US appeared to welcome the British move. US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington that the US would view the British request which was "well within the confines of our policy."

"We don't want to be the world's jailers," he said. "At the same time, we also don't want to see very dangerous people allowed to walk the streets freely so they can pose a threat to our citizens as well as others."

Major reversal of policy

The British request is a marked departure from the policy of former Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, which maintained it was not responsible for prisoners who weren't British nationals but had simply lived in Britain.

In 2004 and 2005, Blair secured the release of nine British citizens held in Guantanamo Bay. Blair's government had however opposed a legal challenge by the relatives of some of the detainees, who were resident in Britain, to press for their release.

The latest British move is also seen as an effort by new British Premier Gordon Brown, who replaced Blair in June, to chart a more independent course towards Washington and be seen as willing to tackle the subject of human rights in the US-led war against terrorism.

Britain is seeking the release and return to Britain of Shaker Aamer, a Saudi national, Jamil el-Banna, a Jordanian, Omar Deghayes, a Libyan national, Binyam Mohamed, an Ethopian and Dbdennour Sameur, an Algerian.

Activists welcome British move

Human rights activists and campaigners for the closure of the Guantanamo prison welcomed British efforts to seek the release of the five detainees.

"At last we are seeing an ethical foreign policy: action rather than words," said Clive Stafford Smith, legal director of prisoners' rights groups Reprieve.

"It's brilliant news," Asim Qureshi of Cageprisoners, a group that works on behalf of Guantanamo prisoners, told the International Herald Tribune. "We're really happy today."

But, the release of the British residents is not expected to be free of hurdles.

In particular, US-imposed restrictions and security measures on the prisoners once they are returned to Britain are expected to prove contentious. In the past, British officials have said that London could not agree to the conditions sought by the US because they would violate British and European human rights laws.

The Guantanamo Bay prison camp, which was set up to hold detainees in the US-led war against terrorism, has sparked condemnation and protests around the world for long, harsh and indefinite detentions of prisoners without access to a trial. US President Bush has said he would like to close the camp but calls it a necessary tool in the war on terrorism.

Many former European inmates, who have returned home, have written books and testimonials detailing the horrors and torture they had to endure there.