The Iraqi doctor had worked as an interpreter for only four months when his father, also employed by British Forces in Basra, was kidnapped, tortured and killed. He was sent a tape of the execution in April last year and also threatened.

Terrified and traumatised, the 28-year-old fled to Syria in May 2007. His wife, an Iraqi with British citizenship, had already flown to London, but he was unable to get a visa.

“It has been a nightmare,” said his wife, who gave birth to the couple's first child seven months ago, alone in London.

The doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, applied for assistance under a scheme run by the British Government for interpreters and others who work for the military.

His application was turned down because he had not worked for 12 consecutive months.

“This 12-month rule is really unfair,” his wife, 29, told The Times. “Some people have worked for three or four years without being threatened, while others like my husband just work for a few months and become a target.”

In May the doctor was forced to return to Iraq because his Syrian visa had run out, as had his funds.

“I felt very, very afraid,” the doctor told The Times, speaking from a secret location in Iraq. “I asked the UNHCR for help but they did not help.” The British Embassy in Damascus was closed, he said. “I am now in hiding to avoid being recognised.”

A plague of militia murders and intimidation that gripped southern Iraq has eased after military operations over the past six months, but the risk remains.

Interpreters and other Iraqis who worked for the British are a favourite target for Shia militants, who view them as collaborators.

“Now it is probably better and generally safer [in Basra] ... but it is still not 100 per cent safe,” his wife added.

She claimed that a family friend who owned a shop in Basra was shot dead last month because he had made a political comment to the wrong people a week earlier.

“My husband is unable to return to his home town because people know who he is,” she said.

At the High Court hearing yesterday Mr Justice Baker rejected the application for a judicial review of the Government's aid programme.

But he described the doctor's visa application as an “extremely deserving case” and urged the Home Office to treat it favourably.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We carefully consider all applications in line with immigration rules and take into account all circumstances.”

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