Q&A

They were all seized by American forces in Afghanistan in the aftermath of September

11. The exact circumstances of how they were arrested and why they were in Afghanistan remain a mystery for all but Jamal al-Harith, who was interrogated by the CIA after being found in a Taliban prison in Kandahar, and Tarek Dergoul, who was picked up near Osama bin Laden's mountain fortress of Tora Bora. He claims to have been "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

What were they accused of?

The Pentagon claimed all the men in Guantanamo Bay were the "worst of the worst" terrorists who had aided either al Qaeda or the Taliban. Detainees were said to have vital intelligence about Bin Laden's terror network and to have trained at his camps for Islamic militants. But specific charges were never levelled at the five Britons who are now free.
What happened to them while they were in Cuba?

They were held initially in wire-mesh cages and later in converted containers without access to lawyers, contact with their families or each other for up to two years. Camps Delta and X-Ray are guarded by thousands of troops, many of them from the part-time National Guard. When prisoners are spoken to, soldiers say "honour bound" to which the detainees must reply "to defend freedom" - the camp motto - or face punishment. Forced to wear orange boiler suits, they were moved around the camp in shackles and chained to trolleys, given 30 minutes of exercise every week and repeatedly interrogated by young American officers for information on al Qaeda. MI5 officers are also known to have quizzed them. Claims that "light" torture techniques or "truth drugs" could have been used have not been denied. Punishments for not cooperating with the regime included being denied any human contact for days. At least a third of the hundreds of prisoners in Cuba have suffered serious depression and there have been repeated suicide attempts although it is not known if any of the Britons tried to take their own lives.

How were they able to return to Britain?

Under massive political pressure, the Government started negotiations last year to have all nine British prisoners released or put on trial. A face-saving deal to free five of the nine was hammered out by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith after a series of visits to Washington in which he agreed the men would be fully investigated by police and serious consideration given to their prosecution. But Home Secretary David Blunkett quickly admitted none was a risk to national security, while saying the remaining four British detainees would be best tried in the US.

Can they sue?

Yes, but they are extremely unlikely to win although they are certain to create massive embarrassment in the process. Suing the US government would be almost impossible, but the American court system allows repeated appeals, meaning it could be years before a final decision is made. In Britain their families have already failed in a bid to force the Government to do more but judges slammed their treatment. Any court case could force an admission that torture was used - which would be a breach of international law.

What about the other British men in Guantanamo Bay?

They appear likely to go in front of military tribunals in the US unless the American Supreme Court, which is shortly to consider the whole issue, rules such commissions illegal. American investigators claim they can show the four - Feroz Abbasi, 23, Moazzam Begg, 36, Richard Belmar, 24, and Martin Mubanga, 29 - trained at al Qaeda camps in urban warfare and as bombers and assassins. Abbasi is accused of meeting Bin Laden three times, while Begg has apparently confessed to a bizarre hi-tech plot to kill Tony Blair using anthrax dropped from an unmanned plane. His lawyer - who has never been allowed to speak to him - says the claims are absurd.