On 11 January 2005, the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced that, after "intensive and complex discussions" between his government and the US, the remaining four British nationals in Guantanamo Bay would be returned "within weeks". While they were still regarded as "enemy combatants" by the US government, it had brought no specific charges against them. "The New York Times" and "CNN" reported that Bush had released Begg as a favour to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was being harshly criticised in the UK for his support of the Iraq war. "The Atlantic" claimed that the Bush administration has tried to make a gag order a condition of Begg's release, but that this would not have been acceptable to the British public.