LONDON (AFP) -- Britain and the U.S. have agreed on the transfer of ex-British resident Binyam Mohamed from detention in Guantanamo Bay “as soon as the practical arrangements can be made,” the Foreign Office said on Friday.

The announcement -- of what would be the first release from Guantanamo since U.S. President Barack Obama took office -- came shortly after The Washington Post newspaper reported that Mohamed could be flown to Britain as early as Monday.
“The UK and U.S. governments have reached agreement on the transfer of Mr. Binyam Mohamed from Guantanamo Bay to the UK. He will be returned as soon as the practical arrangements can be made,” a Foreign Office statement said.
“This result follows recent discussions between the British and U.S. governments and a medical assessment, undertaken by a UK doctor, that Mr. Mohamed is medically fit to return.”
Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, two days after taking office one month ago, and banned the use of torture in terror interrogations in a dramatic repudiation of his predecessor George W. Bush.
The Washington Post said Ethiopian-born Mohamed, who is 30, could be flown home from Monday, when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is to visit Guantanamo with other Justice Department officials tasked by Obama to carry out a review to determine the fate of its approximately 245 detainees.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he wants Mohamed, who has refugee status in Britain, back “as soon as possible.”
On Friday the Foreign Office noted that it had requested the release and return of all former legal British residents detained at Guantanamo Bay in August 2007.
“In reaching this decision, we gave full consideration to the need to maintain national security and the government’s overriding responsibilities in this regard,” it noted.
Mohamed -- who staged a 13-day hunger strike this month as efforts to secure his return came to a climax -- will not necessarily be allowed to stay in Britain for good, the statement added.
“Mr. Mohamed’s return does not constitute a commitment... that he may remain permanently in the UK,” the Foreign Office said.
“His immigration status will be reviewed following his return and the same security considerations will apply to him as would apply to any other foreign national in this country,” it said.
“As always, all appropriate steps will be taken to protect national security.”
Legal charity Reprieve, which has battled for Mohamed’s release, nonetheless welcomed the announcement.
“This is truly wonderful news for Binyam Mohamed, who wants nothing more to return to normal life in Britain,” said its director Clive Stafford Smith.
“The Foreign Office have worked long and hard to secure Binyam’s release from Guantanamo Bay. We thank them for their efforts on Binyam’s behalf and to those in the Obama administration who assisted them.”
Amnesty International also welcomed the news, and called for an independent inquiry into his case and the allegations of a cover-up of torture.
“It’s a huge relief that Binyam Mohamed is finally getting out of Guantanamo, but his release won’t be a moment too soon,” said the rights group’s UK director Kate Allen.
“It’s nothing short of a disgrace that Binyam has been held in harsh conditions for all these years, having to resort to a hunger strike to raise awareness of his plight.”
Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 before being taken to Morocco and Afghanistan, and later to Guantanamo, the U.S. “war on terror” detention camp.
He was suspected of attending an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and of plotting to build a radioactive “dirty bomb,” but has never been charged.