Guantanamo detainee expected home 'within weeks'

The brother of one of the five UK residents set to be released from Guantanamo Bay said he expects to see him return home within weeks.

Law student Omar Deghayes, 37, who has been held at the camp since 2002, was named as one of the detainees whose freedom has been officially requested by the British Government.

His older brother, Abubakar, speaking from his home in Brighton, said the family had been "crying tears of joy" at the thought they would be reunited soon. But he hit out at the Government for failing to intervene earlier.

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Abubakar Deghayes said: "The first I heard was when I got a phone call from (former British detainee) Moazzam Begg. We can't believe that after all these years, the campaigning and lawyers that Omar could finally be home soon.

"I won't believe it until I see him, but from what I understand it could be very soon, weeks even days.

"His files are closed and the Americans want to reduce numbers. It could have happened a lot sooner if the British government had wanted it."

Omar De ghaye s wa s granted refugee status in Britain as a 16-year-old after his mother and three siblings fled their native Libya following the political assassination of their father.

Mr Deghayes was arrested in Pakistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban, accused of plotting to commit terrorist attacks against the US.

His family protested his innocence, saying Mr Deghayes dropped out of university to go to Afghanistan in 2001 where he married and fathered a son.

His lawyers have argued that a man in a Chechen terrorist training video incorrectly identified as Mr Deghayes was a Saudi called Abu Walid, who is now dead.

Campaigners say Mr Deghayes has suffered repeated abuse and torture at the hands of US guards. He joined a hunger strike by inmates in 2005 to protest against conditions at the camp.

His brother said: "Omar's wife Maryam is still in Afghanistan and his son Jamil is five now. It has been a living hell for all of us, but especially my mother."

The other men whose release has been requested are Shaker Amaer, Jamil el Banna, Binyam Mohammed al Habashi and Adennour Sameur, all of whomhad been granted refugee status.

It is the first time Britain has interceded on behalf of non-British citizens.