"Some 20 Pakistani prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are likely to be handed over to the government of Pakistan, hopefully by the end of the month," the interior ministry's National Crisis Management Cell chief Brigadier Javed Cheema said.

The US authorities have released 24 prisoners since November 2002, he told AFP, adding that efforts were underway to secure the release of around 40 Pakistanis still detained at the base in Cuba.

Cheema last month led a three-member government delegation to Washington for talks with US State Department officials on the release of the Pakistanis.

Pakistan and United States agreed in March to put in place a process to screen Pakistani prisoners for their possible release from detention.

Thousands of Pakistanis were captured in Afghanistan following the ouster of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001.

Some 64 were transferred to the US naval detention center while hundreds of others are still locked in Afghan jails, officials said.

Since November 2002, around 24 Pakistanis have been freed from Guantanamo, they said.

Securing the release of Pakistani prisoners has been a major concern for Islamabad, a key US-ally in the war on terror.