Pizzas galore!

"I never got used to it - we would all put our towels and clothes around us.

"We were only allowed a shower once a week at the beginning and none at all in solitary confinement. This was very tough because you were supposed to be clean when you pray. Gradually the number of showers rose to three a week. They were always cold.

"You could be chained by two MPs while you were still in the cage before being taken off for what they called 'rec and shower'."

Inmates were issued with "comfort items" - known as CIs - which would be removed sometimes as a punishment, he said. These included shampoo, towels, washcloths and boxer shorts.

Al-Harith said he refused "treats", such as watching a James Bond film.

"Some people were given pizzas, ice cream and McDonalds but they didn't offer them to me. I guess they knew bribery would work with some and not with others."

In Camp X-Ray, he said inmates were given Mills and Boon-style romance novels in Arabic, which they refused to read.

"When I did meet the other Brits, we would reminisce about home - particularly the food.

"We were all obsessed with Scottish Highland Shortbread - we wanted some so much.

"One of the Brits told me he was asked why he was a Muslim, because he ought to be praying to the Queen."

Of his experience, he said: "It was very, very hard at times, but I tried to think about nothing but survival.

"I kept my thoughts from home as much as possible because it would drive me crazy.

"About a year into my time, I had a dream. A voice said: 'You will be here for two years.

"In my dream, I said: 'Two years! You're joking'. But when I woke up, I was calmer because at least that meant I would be getting out one day.

"I was sent to Guantanamo on February 11, 2002 and left on March 9, 2004, so I was there for just over two years, just like the voice in the dream said."

Mr al-Harith was one of five detainees to be released without charge from Paddington Green police station after being questioned by anti-terrorist branch detectives.

Nine Britons were originally held at Camp Delta by the US. Four Britons remain in custody there, despite calls by their families and human rights groups.