Four French detainees held by the US military at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay were handed over to French authorities on Tuesday and will arrive in Paris later in the day, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

However, the ministry did not give the identities of the released detainees who are en route to Paris on a chartered plane and will be questioned by French counterintelligence officials upon arrival in Paris.

The detainees, accused of being associated with the al-Qaida terrorist network and the toppled Taliban regime, have been detained in US military prisons at Guantanamo Bay for more than two years.

Last month, the French foreign ministry said Paris and Washington were working on plans to allow several French detainees to return home.