Planespotters heading home

Dutch planespotter Frank Mink arrives at court in Kalamata earlier this week

NAFPLION, Greece -- All 14 British and Dutch planespotters who had been accused of spying have been released on bail after five weeks in jail in Greece.

Some described their prison stay as an ordeal but said they would be happy to be home for the holidays.

"It was an ordeal, but we're going home," Graham Arnold, 38, told the Associated Press after his release.

The 14 were released on Friday after each posted bail of five million drachmas ($12,800).

But they must return to face a misdemeanour charge. No date has yet been set.

The 13 men had been held in a prison in the southern port of Nafplion, 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Athens, since November 12.

The sole woman in the group was held in Korydallos prison near Athens, the only one in the southern part of Greece with a women's section.

The planespotter case had strained relations between Greece, and Britain and the Netherlands, all members of the European Union and NATO, after the spying charges were laid against the party.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair talked about the case with Greek Premier Costas Simitis, while their foreign ministers discussed it at length.

Blair had also indicated he would bring up the case again with Simitis at Friday's EU summit at Laeken, Belgium, if it was not resolved by then. The planespotters were arrested on November 8 after attending an aircraft show at a military base in the town of Kalamata.

Originally accused of felony espionage, they were ordered released on Wednesday after a panel of three judges in Kalamata reduced the charges to a misdemeanour of illegal information collection, and set the bail.

"We have to come back, unfortunately," said Wayne Groves, 38, who added he was "not very happy."

The group is free to leave the country and will travel home early on Saturday, but they must return to face trial on the lesser charge at an as yet undetermined date.

"When we appeared in court for the first time, we couldn't believe what we were hearing," said Peter Norris, 52. "We're glad to be out, it's been long and torturous."

Richard Howitt, a British Member of the European Parliament who has campaigned on behalf of the detainees, said he was forced to call British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at the EU summit to help resolve some of the bureaucratic delays that threatened the Friday release.

"This was the latest ghastly episode in what was a whole disaster. I'm just so glad it's ended and they have been set free," Howitt told AP.

"Although there wasn't, in my view, bias or conspiracy in this case, they didn't get justice, because justice delayed is justice denied."

The 14 claim they did not violate the ban on photography at military air bases and were only engaged in their hobby of observing and taking notes about aircraft.

But Greek officials say the group was warned on three occasions before their arrest that photography was not allowed in military areas and that their activities were regarded as suspicious.

Planespotting is virtually unknown in Greece, which has a tradition of tight military controls because of long-standing tensions with neighbouring Turkey.