BRITAIN: Families and legal representatives of four of five Britons released from Guantanamo Bay last week have rejected fresh US claims that they were al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters.
The claims, made officially by the US embassy in London, produced a front-page exclusive in yesterday's Sun newspaper headlined "Enemy On Our Streets".
The embassy's press counsellor, Mr Lee McClenny, told the paper's political editor that one of the four men considers the UK and US governments to be his sworn enemies and travelled to Afghanistan after September 11th, 2001 for training with an organisation associated with al-Qaeda.
Mr McLenny detailed the weapons training received by the other three and said they returned to Afghanistan after September 11th "to fight jihad with the Taliban".
Downing Street refused to discuss the detail of the allegations against the men.
Ms Gareth Pierce, the solicitor for two of the men, accused the US of trying to divert attention from suspected human rights abuses of prisoners in Cuba.
Mr Blunkett yesterday lost his appeal against a ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that he release a 37-year-old Libyan, one of 14 people detained without trial at Belmarsh Prison over the past 15 months.