Guantanamo Britons 'must come home'

Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi will not face the death penalty

The guarantee that two British terror suspects held by the US will not be executed if found guilty does not go far enough, the families and lawyers of the men have argued.

The concession was offered by the US following a meeting about Guantanamo Bay prisoners Feroz Abbasi and Moazzam Begg with Attorney General Lord Goldsmith.

Mr Begg's father, Azmat, told BBC News Online his son had been deprived of human rights at Camp Delta and it would be "impossible" for him to receive a fair hearing from the US military.

Mr Abbasi's solicitor, Louise Christian, said: "We're talking about fundamental human rights in being allowed to be tried by a court independent of the government accusing you."

Ms Christian, who is also representing two of the other seven British prisoners, said that if any of the men are to face trial it should be in the UK.

Calling on ministers to do more, she said: "These men have spent 18 months in wire cages and the British government has stood by and done nothing."

'Proper human rights'

Mr Begg's father said Lord Goldsmith's trip had brought no news as far as he was concerned, because he had already been assured that his 35-year-old son would not be executed.

UK DETAINEES IN CAMP DELTA Shafiq Rasul, 24, of Tipton, West Midlands Asif Iqbal, 20, of Tipton Ruhal Ahmed, 20, of Tipton Martin Mubanga, 29, from north London Jamal Udeen, 35, from Manchester Richard Belmar, 23, from London Tarek Dergoul, 24, from east London Moazzam Begg, 35, from Birmingham Feroz Abbasi, 23, from south London At-a-glance: Britons held

And he said that life imprisonment for Moazzam was "more or less the same as the death penalty" anyway.

He said all the Britons held at the Cuba camp should be brought to the UK.

"They should give him proper human rights and after this has satisfied the family and the doctors they should be tried at home," Mr Begg said.

Louise Christian told BBC News Online that Mr Abbasi - along with the other Britons - had not even been charged with a crime to be tried for.

She said all nine men were being held in "appalling" conditions and that the families of her other clients, Tarek Dergoul and Martin Mubanga, were worried because they were receiving fewer letters from them.

"When the family of Tarek complained about this to the Foreign Office their response was to say 'this is the same for everyone'," Ms Christian said.

Stephen Jakobi, of campaign group Fair Trials Abroad, welcomed the decision on the death penalty but said the rest of the deal was no more than "a fig leaf".

A Foreign Office spokesman said it was pressing the US for a decision on what happens to all nine men and added: "Our view is that if they are not going to be charged they have to be released."

'Significant progress'

Lord Goldsmith said the prospect of repatriating Mr Abbasi, 23, from London, Mr Begg, 35, from Birmingham and the other British prisoners was still being discussed.

I'm happy in a way that things are moving forward, but our real concern is to bring my son back to Britain and try him here Moazzam's father Azmat Letters home from Guantanamo

He said his objective in the talks had been to ensure that all the men "fair trials that meet generally recognised principles, wherever those trials take place".

While that has not yet been achieved, Lord Goldsmith said he had made "significant progress" in ensuring a fair trial for Mr Begg and Mr Abbasi.

They would be able to have a US civilian lawyer of their own choosing, and a UK lawyer to act as a "consultant".

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said: "I understand the concern of the parents of all of the UK detainees that are held there," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme."

It was "quite usual" for prisoners convicted by a tribunal in one country to serve their sentence in the country of their origin, he added.