The Government's policy on Guantanamo Bay was in disarray last night after the Home Secretary appeared at odds with his own officials about the fate of Omar Deghayes and fellow British resident detainees.

John Reid was asked directly whether he would accept any offer by the US to take back Mr Deghayes and eight other British residents still languishing at the notorious prison camp he suggested he was content to abandon them.

He told The Argus: "The people in Guantanamo are not British citizens.

"Residents are an entirely different thing. Residents have not got the same status as citizenship."

But shortly afterwards a Home Office spokeswoman, asked to clarify Dr Reid's remarks, appeared to hold open the prospect of the detainees returning to their homes.

The spokeswoman said: "Each case will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

"The Home Secretary has the power to remove their right to abide in the UK if that would be conducive to the public good."

Human rights group Amnesty International demanded an urgent end to the confusion and called on the Government to make a statement.

The Argus is campaigning for justice for Mr Deghayes, whose family lives in Saltdean, Brighton.

Mr Deghayes, himself a former Brighton resident, has spent more than five years in the military camp in Cuba without being charged with any offence.

Several members of the Cabinet, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, have indicated their wish for Guantanamo to close but the Government says it has not discussed the fate of eight of the nine British residents with the US - the exception being former MI5 associate Bisher al- Rawi - on the grounds they are not British citizens.

The official denials contradict evidence published in The Argus last year, showing UK officials did in fact meet their US counterparts to discuss the possibility of taking back the detainees.

Tim Hancock, Amnesty's UK Campaigns Director, said yesterday: "Guantanamo Bay is a travesty of justice and we have repeatedly called on the Government to do its utmost to secure the release or fair trial of at least eight long-term residents of this country still held at Guantanamo.

"It's simply unacceptable that the Government is apparently turning its back on people like Omar Deghayes and Jamil el- Banna - refugees with no other country but Britain to help them.

"With mounting concern over the regime at Guantanamo Bay, we urgently need clarification over whether the Government is - at least as a humanitarian gesture - prepared to now help these men held without human rights in Cuba."