"These five have been determined appropriate for transfer. The British government has accepted that responsibility and so we're going to transfer them," said Larry DiRita, the Pentagon's chiefs spokesman.

Four other Britons, including two who were declared eligible for trial by military commission last July, will remain in US custody at Guantanamo.

DiRita would not explain why those four will not be turned over, or say whether the other five will be released on their return home.

The repatriation agreement was announced in London by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who said the five will be flown home in the next few weeks.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the United States' closest ally in its "war on terror", has come under mounting political pressure to resolve the issue and apologised earlier this month in parliament for the lengthy negotiations.

WAR.WIRE