Omar's long road to freedom

US soldiers stood over orangeuniformed inmates as they crouched on the ground, their hands bound, their faces masked.

In the aftermath of the September 11 bombings and the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, Guantanamo became a by-word for controversy over the conduct of the "War On Terror".

And it is here that Saltdean student Omar Deghayes has been held since his arrest in Pakistan in 2002 - without being charged with any crime.

The Argus's Justice For Omar campaign backed calls by his family, supporters and MPs for the US government either to charge him or return him to Britain.

All British citizens held at Guantanamo had been released by January 2005. But Omar, who is Libyan-born but has British residency, was left in a legal limbo.

He fled Libya aged 16 after his father was allegedly murdered by agents of dictator Colonel Gaddafi.

He feared torture and execution at the hands of the Libyan authorities if he returned but the British Government refused to press for his return to Britain.

Yesterday, the Government at last heeded the calls of Omar's supporters.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith have asked US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to return Omar and four others to British soil.

While this has given new hope to Omar's family, his supporters know their fight is not over yet.

They are pledging to fight on until he is safely back on British soil.

And stories of conditions at the prison mean they have no idea what toll his ordeal will have taken on him.

Omar's family went public in 2005 with claims he was being abused in jail. His lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said he was left permanently blind in one eye after being pepper-sprayed by guards. They also allegedly smeared human faeces over his face.

Evidence from FBI observers at Guantanamo Bay, including Camp Delta where Omar is held, was made public in 2004. Their testimonies included accounts of prisoners being left manacled in the foetal position for 24 hours without food, water or the use of a toilet.

German Shepherd dogs were used to intimidate inmates. Some prisoners with beards and long hair had duct tape wrapped around their heads. Female guards gave lap-dances and fondled the prisoners to taunt them for their devoutly religious beliefs. Strobe lighting and loud rap music was used for 16 hours at a time to mentally exhaust detainees, some of whom were interrogated for 24 hours straight.

Save Omar campaigner Louise Purbrick said: "Who knows what condition he's going to be in if he is released?"

She believes supporters of Omar will fight on even after he is released to close the Guantanamo Bay camps for good.

She said: "Everybody has always said we would campaign for Omar's release and for the camp's closure.

"I think people will campaign for other prisoners. If you care about one, it doesn't stop there."

Abubaker Deghayes, Omar's brother, said: "We are on top of the world but it is not over until everybody locked up in this way is released."

Omar and his family moved to Britain from Libya in 1986 after the death of his father, Amer.

They settled in Saltdean where his mother, Zohra Zewawi, still lives.

Omar became a Tottenham Hotspur supporter and even considered trying out for Brighton and Hove Albion.

He studied for A-Levels at Davies's - now Bellerbys - College in Hove and read law at Wolverhampton University.

In 2001, he was studying for a legal practice course at Huddersfield University when he decided to travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan as a volunteer on charity projects.

While there he married and had a son, Suleiman, who he has not seen since his arrest. His family in England have been unable to contact his wife.

Brighton imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid met Omar the day he and his family arrived in Britain. He acted as referee for him and his brothers when they applied for residency in Britain and counter-signed his travel documents before his fateful trip to Pakistan.

Dr Sajid said: "I can confirm he is a person who has nothing to do with any radicalisation, violence or abnormality.

He was an ordinary, simple student - a young man."

Omar was arrested late in 2001 in a flat in Islamabad, the Pakistan capital.

His family had no idea what had happened until a friend told them he had seen Omar named as a Chechen terrorist in an article on the internet.

To their knowledge, he had never been to Chechnya. Dr Sajid believes Omar was arrested by the Pakistani government for political reasons.

Protesters claim Pakistan rounded up foreign nationals and handed them over as suspected terrorists in return for US financial aid.

Convicted terrorist David Courtailler gave evidence at his trial that Omar gave him telephone numbers for militants in Spain and Morocco.

One of those militants was later arrested in connection with the Madrid train bombings of 2004, which killed more than 190 people. But Omar's lawyer and his family say Omar is the victim of a case of mistaken identity. Dr Sajid, chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, raised Omar's plight in the corridors of power, from Downing Street to the White House.

He said: "Tony Blair really didn't listen to us. We are very grateful to Gordon Brown for taking this stand, that all British people who have not been involved in any criminal activity should be released."

Abubaker Deghayes thanked The Argus and its readers for their support and said: "Without The Argus we couldn't have got here. It is brilliant."

Brighton Kemptown MP Des Turner travelled to Washington in May to petition for Omar's release. He handed a dossier of articles from The Argus to State Department officials but was told there were no plans for Omar to be either charged or released.

When yesterday's news broke, Dr Turner said: "I'm delighted at this positive action by the British Government.

Omar's family and supporters have run a terrific campaign and I was very happy to have helped them in whatever way I could.

"Whilst in the US I put their case at the Pentagon and State Department as well as to the British Ambassador there. I'm sure that the backing of the Foreign and Home Secretaries means the chances of his early release are greatly enhanced.

"This issue must have been raised when Gordon Brown met George Bush recently - and I'm very grateful to the Prime Minister for that."

Green councillor Bill Randall said his party convener, Keith Taylor, was the first politician to take on Omar's case and work with his family.

He said: "We are really pleased with this news and hope he will be released soon."

Hove MP Celia Barlow said: "It is a relief to many of us from Brighton and Hove that the Government is now making an effort to make sure Mr Deghayes receives a fair trial.

"Guantanamo Bay should have been shut down years ago. I hope that the US Government will hand over the detainees soon."