THE government was under pressure last night to state categorically whether four British residents who are to be released from Guantanamo Bay are considered a threat to the public.

Three terror suspects - Jamil el-Banna, from northwest London, Omar Deghayes, from Brighton, and Abdennour Samuer, whose last British address was in Bournemouth - will return to the UK. Shaker Aamer will return to his native Saudi Arabia. They were held after the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove Al-Qaeda bases there in 2002.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, challenged Gordon Brown to say whether he shared the US government’s official view that the men were “extremely dangerous” and could rejoin the war on terror.

Senior officials in Washington said yesterday that a deal had been done, although the Foreign Office would say only that talks continued.

The US officials indicated that, as a condition of their release, the three men would be subject to strict supervision or possibly control orders in Britain.

American officials have said that some of the men have close ties to some of Al-Qaeda’s most high-ranking leaders. The Pentagon describes them as “extremely dangerous”.

El-Banna, 44, and a Jordanian citizen, is alleged to have had “a long-term association” in Jordan with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was behind the murder of Ken Bigley, the British engineer.

The Pentagon alleges that Deghayes, 37, a Libyan, is a “jihadi veteran” of the Bosnian war with links to Salaheddine Benyaich, a leader of the Casablanca suicide bombing gang that killed 45 people. His US security file states: “He has direct connections to Al-Qaeda operatives in Europe.”

Sandra Hodgkinson, who is in charge of US detention policy, has cautioned that the suspects may seek to reestablish terrorist links.

Davis said yesterday: “We need to know whether the government views these men as safe and no threat to the British public. If that is the case then it must take responsibility for that judgment. If, on the other hand, it views them as a risk to the British public, then there is a question as to whether a nonBritish citizen who has voluntarily left the UK should be allowed to come back.”

Times Recommends

• Alex Rider exclusive: Incident in Nice
• Green & confused: do energy-saving bulbs work?
• Let’s skip lunch, say the hungry generation