Six French prisoners freed from Guantanamo

US authorities have handed over six French detainees from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to French authorities, officials said in Paris.

A chartered flight containing the six men was on its way to Paris and expected to arrive in the early afternoon.

The French Foreign Ministry said last month that Washington and Paris were working on plans to allow several French detainees at the US naval base to return to France.

The suspects – Mourad Benchellali, Imad Kanouni, Nizar Sassi, Brahim Yadel, Ridouane Khalid and Khaled Ben Mustafa – were among seven French men rounded up with hundreds of others by US forces in Afghanistan more than two years ago, the officials said.

The six were to appear before anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere upon arrival in Paris. The case of the seventh man was not immediately clear.