Palestinian-Jordanian Jamil el Banna, 45, and Libyan-born Omar Deghayes, 38, are wanted in Spain for alleged terrorist offenses. They spent more than four years at the U.S. prison camps in southeast Cuba before being sent to Britain under a deal struck between Washington and the Gordon Brown government.
On their return to Britain they were detained under European arrest warrants alleging they were members of an al Qaeda cell operating in Spain.
The men's lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, told city of Westminster Magistrates Court that neither U.S. nor British officials had filed any charges against the men, and that it would be an ''obvious injustice'' to ``now extradite them for the same allegations that have been fully investigated in Guantánamo.''
District Judge Timothy Workman said the men could remain free on bail under conditions that include electronic tagging. He set their next court appearance for Feb. 14.
A third British resident, Algerian Abdennour Sameur, 34, was freed from Guantánamo along with Deghayes and el Banna, and was released without charge on his return to Britain.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Brown was asked by an opposition lawmaker whether the men -- both long-term British residents -- posed a danger to the country.
''Where people are wanted on arrest in Britain, they will be arrested,'' Brown told lawmakers in the House of Commons. ``Where people have to be returned to other countries, we will expedite that if at all possible.''
Five British citizens were freed from Guantánamo in March 2004 and four in January 2005. None was charged on their return.
