FRIENDS and relatives of the four Britons freed from Guantanamo Bay this week could also face intensive police monitoring, Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, said last night.

People sharing an address with any of the four could be denied access to the telephone or internet and have to undergo body searches.

Elaborating on powers announced by the Government this week, Mr Clarke said: “I accept that an individual is different to a family but where there is an individual deemed to be a threat on security grounds we need the powers to stop that person engaging in terrorism.

“Just because somebody’s wife wants to chat with her friends about going shopping that’s not therefore a reason to let somebody cause a bomb explosion,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “These are serious people and serious organisations trying to destroy our society.”

Mr Clarke said details of how the four men, who were released without charge, would be monitored had been negotiated with the Pentagon before they were flown home from the internment camp on Tuesday.

Nine terrorism suspects being held without charge in British jails could also be released next week — but will be under house-arrest conditions. Lawyers representing the nine will be in court on Monday to seek their release from Belmarsh and Woodhill prisons. They will propose that the men be granted bail subject to any conditions that the court may impose. The nine will not attend the Special Immigration Appeal Commission in London.

One suspect held under the Anti-Crime Terror and Security Act has already been released with stringent conditions that are effectively house arrest. He cannot contact anyone other than those on a Home Office list and must report by telephone to a monitoring centre.

Last night it was thought unlikely that the Government would allow them bail except under very strict conditions.

The four flown home from Guantanamo Bay spent their first day of freedom with their families but remain under surveillance. Their telephone calls and e-mails will be intercepted.

Moazzam Begg, 36, Martin Mubanga, 32, Feroz Abbasi, 25, and Richard Belmar, 25, were freed without charge on Wednesday after being questioned by the Anti-Terrorist Branch. But, because they were freed, the Pentagon said they still represented “a significant threat”.

US nervousness can be partially explained because at least another ten detainees released from Guantanamo Bay have rejoined Taleban forces in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4: “I am, of course, well aware of the US’s concerns. A security package was negotiated to ensure that all steps would be taken in the event of the men’s release. Every step is being taken by relevant authorities in the light of their assessments to maintain national security.”

He had spoken to Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, before the men were released at Paddington Green police station and was satisfied that due process had been followed and there was no evidence to charge the men with any offence.

“The British Government, police and security services have been in close liaison with the United States to work out a security package to ensure national security and public safety,” the Home Office said. The greatest concern for the US is over Mr Abbasi, who was allegedly captured fighting with al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. The minutes of his “combatant status review tribunal” last year recorded him as telling American officers that he was “honoured” that Allah would allow him to be called an “enemy combatant”.

Mr Abbasi’s lawyers have emphasised that nothing said in the tribunal can be relied upon. He was held in solitary confinement for a year and, as with other detainees, alleged that he was tortured and ill-treated.

VISITORS WARNED

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs is warning its citizens to take extra care when visiting Britain. A new advisory says: “Australians should be aware that, while there is currently no specific information to suggest an imminent terrorist attack in the UK, political leaders and police authorities have warned of the high probability of some kind of attempted terrorist action.”

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