Campaigners for the final four British detainees at Guantanamo Bay pressed on Monday for the men to be released immediately when they return home from three years in US custody at the prison camp in Cuba. The return of the four Muslim men - expected on Tuesday - will close a chapter that had divided Washington from its closest ally and cost Prime Minister Tony Blair support from Muslims and human rights activists at home.
Their lawyers, Louise Christian and Gareth Peirce, both told Reuters they had been informed by the authorities all four detainees would be home on Tuesday.
The Foreign Office said it expected their return "shortly".
"I think they shouldn't be arrested," said Christian. "They've been exposed to torture and abuse and I think it would be a violation of the Human Rights Act to prolong their ordeal."
The chief of London's Metropolitan Police, John Stevens, must still decide whether to arrest the four on their return. Five other British detainees came home last year and were briefly held by police before being freed.
Britain has provided "security guarantees" to Washington for the detainees, but has not said what they include.
Washington says it has treated detainees at Guantanamo humanely although it denied them protections guaranteed to prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. British detainees freed last year said they were hooded, shackled to the floor in painful stress positions and witnessed beatings and other abuse.
British Home Office Minister Hazel Blears was due to meet a delegation from the Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim group, to discuss the return of the detainees.
"We will be urging that it is absolutely crucial that we understand how these detainees have been ill treated," the council's Secretary General Iqbal Sacranie told Reuters. "They have gone through the worst possible conditions. It is important that we don't pile more ill-treatment upon them."
The detainees have also been a cause for the political left. Actor Corin Redgrave, who formed a political party with sister Vanessa, told Reuters they had planned to have the prisoners stand for parliament from their Guantanamo cells. The plans were put on hold when it was announced they would be freed.
At least one of the detainees, Moazzam Begg, 36, from Birmingham, was held for a year by US forces in Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo. His family fears his treatment there may have been worse than in Cuba.
The other detainees returning are Feroz Abbasi, 23, Martin Mubanga, 29, and Richard Belmar, 25, all from London.
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