Belmarsh suspects to go free

Foreign terrorist suspects being held without trial at Belmarsh Prison are set to be freed in a major government climbdown.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke was announcing his decision on the fate of 12 men held under emergency anti-terror laws.

He will accept the ruling by the Law Lords last month that the men's detention is in breach of human rights laws.

Mr Clarke was expected to tell MPs that at least some of the men would be allowed home but kept under virtual house arrest to protect the public.

Conditions for their release could include round-the-clock surveillance, regular reporting, electronic tagging and bans on using the internet or mobile phones.

At least one of the men may be charged and prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws. Others could be charged with lesser offences. The Home Secretary still hopes to strike a deal with some of the men's countries of origin which will allow them to be deported.

All are Islamic extremists and many are wanted men in their homelands - Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan.

Mr Clarke is also set to call for a national debate on antiterror laws and the balance which must be struck between defending liberties and protecting the public.

The Law Lords announced their decision on the day Mr Clarke took over the job of Home Secretary.

He told MPs on the day: "My primary role as Home Secretary is to protect national security and to ensure the safety and security of this country.

"I will not be revoking the certificates or releasing the detainees, whom I have reason to believe are a significant threat to our security."

The detainees would remain in prison, he said, until Parliament decided "whether and how we should amend the law". His predecessor David Blunkett was a staunch defender of the emergency laws, rushed through Parliament in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

While most of the men have been held at Belmarsh in south-east London, mixing freely on the wings with regular prisoners, others are at Broadmoor and Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes.

Only two of the 12 have been named - Abu Qatada, 42, a Jordanian-born cleric and father of five, described as al Qaeda's spiritual ambassador in Europe; and Abu Rideh, a Jordanian-born father of six, who was granted refugee status in 1995 and arrested in December 2001, after allegedly making public threats to carry out a bombing.