ACCRA (AFP) - Two teenage British girls sentenced in January by a Ghana court for smuggling cocaine were released Thursday after serving their one-year sentence, their lawyer told AFP.

Sabine Zanker, a lawyer with Fair Trials Abroad, the Britain-based body that provided legal representation in the case, said the teenagers, who are now 17, had been well treated in prison and would want to come back to the country someday.

"They were treated nicely and are going back with fond memories. They would love to come to Ghana under different circumstances," Zanker said.

She said the girls would soon return to Britain after completing the necessary documents.

The duo were stopped with 300,000 pounds (443,000 euros, 610,000 dollars) worth of cocaine on July 2, 2007 during a joint Ghanaian-British narcotics operation.

They had entered the country in late June and had been due to board a British Airways flight back to London when they were arrested. They faced a maximum sentence of 10 years, but were given one year.

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