Shafiq Rasul British national from Tipton in West Midlands. He claims that he travelled to Pakistan a month after the 9/11 attacks to attend a computer course, but was arrested and taken to Guantánamo. After his release in March 2004 he began a $10 million (£6.9 million) legal action against the US government.

Asif Iqbal Friend and college-mate of Mr Rasul, also from Tipton. He left school at 16 and went to Pakistan with his father to be married. He backed out of the wedding and was arrested in northern Afghanistan. He was freed in March 2004. He and Mr Rasul sent an open letter to President Bush claiming torture.

Ruhal Ahmed The third member of the so-called Tipton Three whose experiences formed basis of Michael Winterbottom's film The Road to Guantanamo. He is a British national and amateur kickboxer and worked part-time in a factory. He went to Pakistan with his friends Mr Rasul and Mr Iqbal and was arrested by Americans in Kandahar. He was freed in March 2004 and says that he has since struggled to find work.

Tarek Dergoul British national of Moroccan parentage who was once a carer for elderly people in East London. He told his family that he was going to Pakistan in 2001 to learn Arabic. He is believed to have been captured near a Taleban stronghold in Tora Bora mountains. He was freed from Guantánamo in 2004. Began legal action against MI5 and MI6 in 2007, claiming that they knew he was being tortured.

Jamal Udeen Born Ronald Fiddler to Jamaican parents. He converted to Islam in his 20s. The father-of-three travelled to Pakistan "to study Muslim culture" three weeks before he was taken prisoner just inside the Afghan border. Claims that he was tortured and abused by US guards in Cuba.

Ferroz Abbasi Moved to the UK from Uganda at the age of 8 and became a British national. He converted to Islam after he was mugged. He went to Afghanistan in 2000 and was arrested at Kunduz by US forces in December 2001. He was released from Cuba in January 2005.

Richard Belmar British national who attended Catholic school in North London but converted to Islam in his teens. He travelled to Pakistan in 2001 and was arrested at an alleged al-Qaeda safe house and held in Pakistan before transfer to Cuba. He was freed in January 2005. He was questioned by British police on his return to that UK but no charges were brought.

Moazzam Begg British national who once ran a bookshop in Birmingham. He moved his family to Afghanistan and claims that he was doing charity work when he was arrested by the CIA in Pakistan in February 2002. He was sent to Cuba after a year in Afghanistan, returned in 2005, and published his memoirs a year later. He now campaigns for the closure of Guantánamo.

Martin Mubanga Has dual British-Zambian nationality. He is a former motorbike courier from North London who converted from Catholicism to Islam in his 20s. He claims that he lost his British passport while travelling in Pakistan in 2000 and was unable to return to the UK. He was arrested in Zambia, handed over to the Americans, and claims that he was tortured in Guantánamo. He was freed in January 2005.

Jamil el Banna A Jordanian with refugee status in Britain. He was arrested in Gambia in November 2002 and sent to Cuba the next year. He returned to Britain in 2007 to be reunited with his wife and children, including a four-year-old daughter he had never met. He was rearrested on a Spanish arrest warrant, but charges were dropped. He now works as a translator.

Omar Deghayes A Libyan with refugee status in Britain. He travelled to Afghanistan and married after dropping out of university in UK. He was arrested in Pakistan in late 2001. He was freed from Cuba in December 2007 and like Mr el Banna he was rearrested after his return to Britain on a Spanish arrest warrant. Charges were dropped in March 2008.

Bisher al-Rawi An Iraqi who fled Saddam Hussein's regime as a teenager. He ran his own business in southwest London and was arrested in the Gambia with his friend Mr el Banna. He was released in 2007. He volunteers for Reprieve, a legal charity. His wife gave birth to a son a week ago.

Binyam Mohamed Ethiopian national who claimed asylum in Britain in 1994, aged 15. He converted to Islam in 2001 and says that he travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to kick a drug habit. The US says that he received weapons training and fought alongside the Taleban. He claims that he was tortured into falsely confessing to terrorism and that MI5 officers passed information to his torturers.

Still imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay

Shaker Aamer Saudi national who moved to Britain in 1996. He has indefinite leave to remain in UK and had applied for citizenship. He is married and has four children, all British. He worked as a translator for a London law firm and says that he went to Afghanistan in August 2001 to do charity work. He has been in solitary confinement since 2005.

Ahmed Beltacha Algerian army deserter who sought asylum in Britain in the late 1990s but was refused. His appeal was still pending when he was arrested in Pakistan. He was cleared for release but has refused to return to Algeria and remains in limbo as the UK government says that it cannot intervene on his behalf because he is not formally a British resident.

Farhi Saeed bin Mohammed Algerian economic migrant who has lived in France, Italy and the UK. He was captured in Pakistan and handed over to the US. He was cleared for release in 2007 and wishes to return to Europe.

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