``The three British journalists have been formally accused of having broken rules governing the press and will appear before the judge on Saturday,'' a Yemeni official said on Thursday.

One of the three Britons, reporter Rageh Omaar, told AFP earlier that they had been charged with contravening press regulations. ``We all pleaded not guilty.''

The three-man TV crew was detained on May 26 on its return to Sanaa but released 48 hours later after questioning, while the authorities kept the men's passports, tapes and camera equipment.

They have been ordered not to leave Yemen but allowed to stay in their Sanaa hotel. The Britons travelled to the region of the Beni Dabiyan tribe, in remote mountains southeast of the capital, allegedly without authorization from the interior ministry. Parts of Yemen areconsidered no-go areas for foreigners because of the risks of kidnapping. The crew filmed the tribe which carried out the kidnapping of three Britons in April and returned two days later to Sanaa, where they were detained at a checkpoint manned by troops.

The Beni Dabiyan in the Dhamar region, some 160 kms from Sanaa, released British teacher David Mitchell and his family on May 3 after holding them hostage for three weeks.