WASHINGTON, Dec 13 The US State Department seems reluctant to define the five American Muslims arrested in Pakistan even as suspects and says that questions about their possible return to the United States should be directed at their families as there are no charges against them so far.

The department's spokesman Ian Kelly told a briefing in Washington that a US consular officer recently visited the Americans detained in Pakistan, checked on their welfare, provided a list of attorneys, and offered to facilitate communication with their families.

Last week, Pakistani police officials told journalists they had arrested five young Muslim men from Northern Virginia for trying to join a militant group. Later, the wife of one of the detainees told CNN that her husband who had gone to Pakistan with his son Umar Farouk to arrange his marriage was also arrested.

Police said they had recovered laptops, maps and extremist literature from the suspects in a raid on a house in Sargodha. The material suggested that the Americans wanted to train for Jihad, Pakistani officials said.

But when the State Department official was asked to explain their position, he said “We confirm that all six of the detainees have US citizenship.”

Asked if he was aware of any requests by the US government to bring the suspects back to the United States, Mr Kelly said he had no position on this as “they are not under charges here and they're not under charges in Pakistan”.

The US official confirmed that all six were in detention but when asked again why the Americans were not trying to bring them back, he said “That's really a question for their families. It's not a question for me. If you're asking me as the State Department spokesman, do we want them to come back, that's really not appropriate for me to answer.”

“Well, we're talking about a number of American citizens detained abroad. Would you like them released?” he was asked.

“I'm not going to answer that,” said Mr Kelly.

“What is the US government's position about whether it wants them to come back?” he was asked.

“Sorry, I don't think we necessarily have a position on this - they have not been charged,” said the US spokesman.

“There are no charges pending here in the United States. There are no charges pending in Pakistan. Our role in this is to ensure that they are treated properly and they have access to a list of attorneys, and we stand ready to facilitate communication with friends and family.”

Asked if the Pakistani government had informed Washington that they were planning to deport the suspect, Mr Kelly said “I haven't seen the Pakistani authorities make any official announcement on what they plan to do besides the fact that they're not charged.”