Hopes have been raised that Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Deghayes could be released under plans by the US to repatriate prisoners to their countries of origin.

The US has announced it is planning to release 141 prisoners from the military jail in Cuba, almost a third of the total population, but has refused to reveal their identities.

Family and friends of Mr Deghayes, a 37-year-old law graduate from Saltdean who has been imprisoned without charge in Guantanamo for almost four years, are desperately hoping he will be among them.

However, if Mr Deghayes is returned to Libya, the country where he grew up but fled after his father was assassinated, he is likely to be tortured or killed, according to his supporters.

It is hoped he would be returned to the UK, where the Deghayes family were granted refugee status in the Eighties and have lived ever since.

The Argus is campaigning for the British Government to intervene in Mr Deghayes' case and put pressure on the US to give him a fair trial.

Zachary Katznelson, senior counsel at Reprieve, a legal organisation representing Mr Deghayes and dozens of other inmates, said: "The Americans have been in discussions with the home governments of prisoners about sending them back.

"Officials of some governments, such as in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, have come forward and said that discussions have been taking place, so we know the nationalities of some of the detainees that are to be released.

"But we don't know if Omar is one of them. Libya has not said anything publicly. The US would also be talking to Britain as there is now no question that Omar would be unsafe if he was returned to Libya.

"It would be incredibly hard for the Americans to send him back there."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We have not been in discussions with the US and we do not know the names of the prisoners to be released.

"We have asked our embassy in Washington for the names that are included on this list. We have put the question of whether there are any people being released that are of concern to Britain but haven't got an answer yet."

Mr Deghayes' brother Abubaker said: "You can't live without hope and let's hope that Omar is one of them.

"I think that anybody out of that dark place is a wonderful thing but obviously I hope that Omar is the first one through the gates. But nobody knows what nationality any of them are and we are just waiting for news."