The five Britons detained at Guantanamo Bay who are due to be released today are:

Ruhal Ahmed, 23, a student from Tipton, West Midlands. His family claim that he went to attend a friend's wedding in Pakistan some time between the end of September 2001 and the start of the US-led war with the Taleban on October 7.

He travelled with two other Muslim men from the same town. All three men became detainees at Camp Delta and have been dubbed the "Tipton Taleban".

The three men attended the town's Alexandra High School. US forces held Mr Ahmed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, before sending him to the US naval base detention centre on Cuba.

Mr Ahmed is the third of six children – two girls and four boys. His father is a British citizen who moved to the UK from what is now Bangladesh. After Mr Ahmed left school, he took a part-time job in a local factory and also helped in community centres. He is described by his family as a "very friendly boy" who was a keen kick boxer and a practising Muslim.

After flying out to Pakistan to help with the wedding, the family heard on January 26, 2002, that he was being held in Guantanamo Bay. His father, Riasoth Ahmed, said: "He is a kid, straight out of school. How could he be a terrorist? Out of here, and then at end of one month he was stopped."

Asif Iqbal, 20, a parcel depot worker from Tipton. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Northern Alliance, the Taleban's enemy, captured him in northern Afghanistan.

Mr Iqbal travelled to Pakistan at his family's suggestion and was accompanied by his father Mohammed. His parents believed it was time for him to get married and settle down.

He met his prospective bride during his first week in Faisalabad, but told his father he wanted time to think and went to Karachi, but did not return, according to reports.

Shafiq Rasul, 25, left for Pakistan in late September 2001 to attend a computer training course in Lahore, according to his brother, Habib, an IT consultant.

Mr Rasul, from Tipton, had been abroad before only for trips to Benidorm and Tenerife on Club 18-30 package holidays. He was a passionate Liverpool football fan, was into fashion and clubbing and had a white girlfriend, according to his family.

Mr Rasul is believed to have been captured in Mazar-e-Sharif after a mutiny by prisoners.