Some detainees have been held since January 2002

Stephen Jakobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, said the prisoners must not be forgotten as the world prepares for possible military action in Iraq.

"It is down to the British Government to really fight for the Britons and bring them here to face any charges they may face, or release them," he said.

"The same is true of the Swedish Government for the Swedes, and the French Government for the two Frenchmen sitting out there.

"It really is no excuse because of the current Iraqi situation to forget about those people or not push harder, there is always something."

Another Briton taken to Guantanamo Click here for full story

Guantanamo Bay, leased from Cuba by the US, holds more than 600 alleged Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters.

They were mainly captured by US forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some have been held without charge, and with no access to lawyers or relatives, since January 2002.

The US Court of Appeals in Washington on Tuesday rejected an appeal bought by 16 detainees - from Australia, Britain and Kuwait - to be allowed a hearing.

'Not held lawfully'

The court ruled they were being held in a place outside US sovereign territory.

That meant they were not entitled to constitutional rights such as being charged with a crime or being given access to a lawyer, it ruled.

Ruhal Ahmed from the West Midlands is among the detainees

Mr Jakobi said the federal court had rejected the appeal because it knew the prisoners could not be held lawfully.

He said: "The legal rote in the US will not work - we think that the American administration have really worked out that particular argument from the beginning - which is why the inmates are sitting in Guantanamo Bay."

Mr Jakobi cited the case of Moazzam Begg, from Birmingham, who was seized by the CIA in Pakistan in February 2002 and taken to Afghanistan, where he was held for a year without access to British consular staff.

He was then transferred to Guantanamo Bay last month. His family say he is the victim of mistaken identity.

Lawyers for the 16 argued that because Guantanamo Bay was under de facto US control, the men should be afforded legal rights.

Shafiq Rasul is another Briton being held

Detainees at Guantanamo Bay are designated by the US Government as "unlawful combatants" - not prisoners of war - meaning they are not entitled to rights under the Geneva Convention either.

The US has been criticised by human rights groups for holding the prisoners indefinitely without charge - leaving them in legal limbo.

The prisoners can still appeal to the US Supreme Court and ask it to overturn the ruling.

There are now nine Britons in Guantanamo Bay, the Foreign Office has confirmed. They are:
• Moazzam Begg, 30, from Sparkbrook, Birmingham
  
• Shafiq Rasul, 24, of Tipton, West Midlands
  
• Asif Iqbal, 20, of Tipton,
  
• Ruhal Ahmed, 20, also of Tipton
  
• Feroz Abbasi, 22, from Croydon, south London
  
• Martin Mubanga, 29, from north London
  
• Jamal Udeen, 35, from Manchester.
  
• Richard Belmar, 23, from London
  
• Tarek Dergoul, 24, from east London

In the UK, judges hearing a case on behalf of detainee Feroz Abbasi have ruled that British courts do not have the power to intervene in the case.

Human rights lawyers have accused the UK Government of washing its hands of the detainees.

Foreign Office officials have made four visits to Guantanamo Bay since January 2002, with another one planned soon to check on Mr Begg.

A Foreign Office spokesman told BBC News Online it was continuing to talk to the US administration "at a higher level" about finding a way to deal with the detainees.