An Iraqi terrorist suspect held without trial by the British military for three years is being detained lawfully, the Law Lords ruled yesterday.

Hilal al-Jedda is in custody in Iraq because the British and US authorities believe he poses such a security threat that he needs to be detained there rather than be dealt with in Britain.

Born in Iraq, the 49-year-old was granted indefinite leave to live in Britain in 1994. When he took his children to Baghdad in 2001, he was seized by the Americans and handed to British forces. He is suspected of being a member of a terrorist group involved in weapons smuggling and explosive attacks. He has denied the allegations.

Although the five Law Lords, headed by Lord Bingham of Cornhill, backed up a similar ruling made by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, they said the Government had wrongly interpreted international law.

The Government argued that all acts of the multinational force in Iraq were attributable to the UN and not to the individual countries providing the troops. However they said the acts remained attributable to the UK.

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