US rights pledge over Omar is welcomed

Mr Deghayes, 37, from Saltdean has been imprisoned in Guantanamo, for four years in conditions which violate international law.

He has gone on hunger strike twice protesting that the Geneva Convention was not being adhered to. Some prisoners are still believed to be undergoing regular force-feeding. The annoucement represents a Uturn in policy by the Bush administration which has previously argued that terrorist detainees were a special category and were not entitled to Geneva Convention rights.

Abubaker Deghayes, Omar's brother, said: "This is a victory for all the people who have been campaigning for justice. The US has always refused to treat the prisoners as fellow human beings, treating them like aliens instead.

"It's great to see that the tide is now going the right way and they have had to admit that anybody arrested in such circumstances should be accorded their rights." He added: "I do find it difficult to believe though. I will have to wait to speak to our lawyer to see what this means in practical terms."

Members of Save Omar, a group lobbying for justice for the detainee, said the news should be treated with caution.

Louise Purbrick said: "We shouldn't hold our breath because they have lied before.

"The first hunger strike ended because the US said exactly that, that they would bring the prison in line with the Geneva Convention, but then they reneged on that which is why a second strike began. I hope that it is true and they have listened to the prisoners who only said they needed to be treated fairly.

"What we have to do now is make sure that we keep them to this promise. The British Government now has a responsibility to keep them to it."

Junior Foreign Office minister Lord Triesman said: "The circumstances under which detainees continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay are unacceptable and it should be closed.

"People know what our view is and I don't accept that we are tainted."