Detainee's father vows to fight

Mr Begg intends to fly to Washington

The father of one of four Britons who will remain in Guantanamo Bay says he will fight on for his son's release.

Azmat Begg said he was bitterly disappointed his son Moazzam was not among the five being released from the US base in Cuba.

But he intends to fly to Washington to lobby the US government.

Five of the UK terror suspects will be flying home soon but the wait goes on for Feroz Abbasi, Richard Belmar and Martin Mubanga as well as Moazzam Begg.

DETAINEES BEING RELEASED Shafiq Rasul, 24, of Tipton, West Midlands Asif Iqbal, 20, of Tipton Ruhal Ahmed, 21, of Tipton Jamal Udeen, 35, from Manchester Tarek Dergoul, 24, from east London UK terror suspects to be released

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said the cases of the four who are still being held is being discussed with the US authorities.

The nine Britons have been among more than 600 terror suspects held at the base on Cuba for two years without trial.

Fresh hope

Meanwhile father-of-four Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham, was arrested in Islamabad in Pakistan in February 2002, and will have to wait longer to learn his fate.

His father said: "Naturally I am very sad, very unhappy about it.

"I will keep on doing whatever I have to do to get him released - I will not stop."

Mr Begg and Mr Abassi could face military tribunals

He continued: "It has been two years but that's the equivalent of 20 years."

But he said the news of the release of the five men had given him fresh hope at a time when he had not heard from his son for six months.

"This is a time when everybody should feel decisions are being made.

"The rest of the family are finding it very difficult, it is a very difficult time."

Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith said the four "were no more guilty of crimes against the US than the other five".

BRITISH MEN STILL BEING HELD Moazzam Begg, 36, from Birmingham Feroz Abbasi, 23, from south London Martin Mubanga, 29, from north London Richard Belmar, 23, from London

Mr Stafford Smith, who represents two of the five Britons who are being released, was scathing about Thursday's announcement they would soon be sent home.

He told the BBC the decision to release them was a "cynical" attempt to avoid political embarrassment over the Supreme Court's ruling, expected in June.

"We are glad it happened but the other four mustn't be forgotten, " he said.

Detainee Mr Begg and Feroz Abbasi, from Croydon, south London, could still face potential trials before a military tribunal, according to US authorities.

Chief executive of the Law Society Janet Paraskeva said they remained concerned about the fate of Mr Abbasi and Mr Begg.

"These men have been held for over two years and their families are extremely concerned about their physical and mental health," she said.

"The families and their solicitors, backed by the Law Society, fear that the provisions for trials before military commissions are so severely flawed that it will not be possible to bring them up to an acceptable standard."

Labour's Geraint Davies, Mr Abbasi's MP, has also pledged to keep up the pressure for Mr Abbasi's return home.

He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme it was not acceptable for the four to continue to be held without charge.

"They should have any evidence put against them and they should be tried in a fair court and punished if they are guilty of anything", he said.

Most of the nine Britons are believed to have been arrested in Pakistan or Afghanistan as suspected al-Qaeda or Taleban fighters.

Mr Straw said it would be up to the police and then the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether the five would face any charges under anti-terrorism laws in the British courts.