A Brighton student imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has written a letter thanking the people of Sussex for their support.

Omar Deghayes, a 35-year-old law student from Saltdean, sent a card expressing his gratitude for the "hard work" of friends, family and the general public campaigning for his return home.

Sabri Ben-Ameur, chairman of the Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum and a long-time friend of Mr Deghayes, received the letter.

The message said: "I was thrilled and very happy to hear of all the hard work you have done about this issue.

"I have heard a little bit of what you and the all the other organisations have done and please send my dearest wishes to all these loyal people.

"I have known for a long time I have very good friends who will do all they can.

"Allah will reward all their hard work."

Mr Deghayes, who has lived in the UK most of his life, has been in solitary confinement at Guantanamo for more than three years since he was captured by bounty hunters in Pakistan.

He has not been charged with any offence and the only evidence produced against him is a video which the Americans allege link him with terrorism but which facial recognition experts have dismissed as a case of mistaken identity.

The only previous contact Mr Deghayes has had with the outside world is occasional letters to his family, delivered through Clive Stafford-Smith, a celebrated human-rights lawyer who represents him and nearly 500 of Camp Delta's other inmates.

Mr Ben-Ameur, whose organisation was the first to begin campaigning for Mr Deghayes' release, said: "It is a real achievement for us to get this letter and know Omar is receiving some of ours.

"I am sure ten or more letters have been chucked in the bin before this one made it through.

"We were so happy to hear from him."

At a public meeting last Saturday, Mr Stafford-Smith called on the people of Brighton and Hove to step up their protest against Mr Deghayes' detention, which he has described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice he had seen in 20 years working in the field of human rights.

The lawyer blasted the Government for its failure to follow through on its promises, made in March, to present concerns about Mr Deghayes' case to the US authorities.

The Government maintains that, because Mr Deghayes was a refugee rather than a British national, it was unable to assist him. The Deghayes family fled to the UK from Libya after their father was killed for his political beliefs.

Following pressure from Brighton and Hove City Council and supporters of Mr Deghayes across the UK, the Foreign Office agreed to discuss his case with the Americans.

But Mr Stafford-Smith said: "They have done nothing. It is utterly inexcusable that someone who has been a resident of Britain for decades should be totally ignored by our elected officials.

"The Home Office has failed to reply to two letters from me, one sent in February and one sent in May, asking for a meeting with the Home Secretary to discuss Omar's case.

"People in Brighton need to act and do whatever it takes to force them to listen."

Taher Deghayes, Omar's elder brother who travelled from Dubai for Saturday's meeting, said: "Our father was taken away from us and killed 25 years ago - with no trial, no court and no access to friends or family.

"Now we find ourselves in a situation where our brother has been taken from us and imprisoned for three years with no trial, no court, no legal process, no contact with us - but this time by the Americans.

"We fled to this part of the world for its protection of human rights and civil liberties.

"But now the British and US Governments have turned their backs on us."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We told the family we would pass on their concerns to the US authorities during the course of our regular exchanges with them.

"Those concerns have been passed on.

"The US authorities noted them and promised to seek a response from the relevant departments.

"We have not yet received anything.

"We have no consular responsibility towards the non-British nationals in Guantanamo."

To find out more about Mr Deghayes' case, visit Amnesty International at www.amnestyusa.org and enter his name into the search facility.

To get involved in the campaign for his release, visit www.save-omar.org.uk