Thank you to everyone who turned up at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court today to show their support for Jamil El-Banna, Omar Deghayes and their families. They very much appreciated the support. Rather than standing outside in the cold, supporters either attended the hearings in the public gallery or outside the courtroom.

Jamil El-Banna's hearing was held first. Starting at 11.30am, allegations of membership of an Al-Qaeda cell in Spain and funding of terrorist groups were made against him by lawyers acting on behalf of the Spanish government. An extradition hearing will be held for Jamil and Omar on 9 January. After some debate as to whether or not to grant bail, the judge agreed to bail of £50,000 and a curfew, monitored by an electronic tag. Jamil El-Banna left the court in the afternoon and returned home to Dollis Hill to meet his five children, including the four year old daughter he met today for the first time.

Omar Deghayes’ hearing was delayed until 4pm and similar charges were made against him (as well as the previous allegations against him already debunked in a BBC report). His bail was also set at £50,000. Mr Deghayes is also currently on his way home.

Abdel Nour Sameur was released without charge this afternoon from Paddington Green Police Station.

The London Guantánamo Campaign welcomes their return to the UK and hopes that Jamil and Omar’s return will not be a temporary respite for them and their families and will support efforts to block their extradition to Spain to answer spurious allegations. What should have been a happy homecoming on a religious holiday was turned into a stressful and agonising 24 hours for the men, their families and their supporters. The decision to detain them and proceed almost immediately with deportation proceedings to Spain for two of the former detainees merely adds insult to the injuries these men have faced at the hands of the British and American governments.

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The London Guantánamo Campaign is continuing with its weekly demonstrations outside the US Embassy in Mayfair to call on the US government to close the illegal torture camp every Friday evening at 6-7pm and is holding a day of events on 11 January 2008 to mark the sixth anniversary of the opening of the camp. Get in touch for more information or to get involved.