A British terror suspect captured and held by British forces in Iraq could be brought back to London to face trial, it emerged today.

The man, named in reports today as Mohamed Ali Abdul Razaq, 48, is being held at a detention facility near Basra. He was seized by British forces in November, reportedly during an SAS raid in Baghdad.

It has been claimed that Mr Razaq is suspected of funding and aiding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian fugitive who heads al-Qaeda in Iraq, the terror group which beheaded British engineer Ken Bigley. Mr al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for much of the violence in the run up to the Iraqi elections on Sunday.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed today that a "UK Iraqi national" was being held at a Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) at its Shaibah base near Basra.

"He is being interned as an imperative threat to security and not because he has been accused of any criminal offences," the spokesman said.

Confirmation that a British-based Iraqi was being held came as the Iraqi government announced the arrest of one Mr al-Zarqawi's top lieutenants, said to have been planning attacks on polling stations on election day.

It said in a statement that Iraqi forces had captured an insurgent known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, who it blames for 32 car bombings. He was seized on December 15.

In the latest attack linked to Mr al-Zarqawi's group, a suicide car bomber blew himself up this morning near the election offices of Iyad Allawi, the interim Iraqi Prime Minister, wounding at least 10 people. Health Ministry officials said that seven policemen and three civilians were wounded. Mr Allawi was not in the area.

Mr al-Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for the attack in an Internet statement. "Your brothers in Al Qaeda will continue their holy war until... they are either victorious or martyred," the statement said.

Yesterday, Mr al-Zarqawi declared all-out war on the elections in an audio tape posted on the Internet, berating the Shia majority for embracing the poll and urging Sunnis to fight against what he called infidel voters. He has said in the past that he wishes to stir up sectarian civil war in Iraq by massacring Shias.

In the tape, Mr al-Zarqawi said that the poll was a plot by the United States and "its Shia allies" against Sunnis, who were dominant during Saddam Hussein's rule.

"We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it," he said. "Those who vote... are infidels. You have to be careful of the enemy's plots that involve applying democracy in your country and confront these plots, because they only want to do so to... give the (Shia) rejectionists the rule of Iraq."

Mr Allawi has promised that his government will do everything possible to safeguard more than 5,000 polling stations against "evil forces determined to hurt Iraq".

Iraqi officials say Sunni guerrillas are not only trying to wreck the elections -- expected to cement the new-found power of the long-oppressed 60 percent Shi'ite majority -- but also want to provoke sectarian civil war.

Mr al-Zarqawi's network has assassinated politicians and beheaded foreign hostages. Despite a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, he has eluded capture.

His group's almost daily attacks, including most of the deadliest suicide bombings of the past year, have raised fears of a bloodbath during next Sunday's elections.

Mr Razaq, said to be a former professional basketball player and father of six, was born in Iraq but fled Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1991. He came to Britain as a refugee, and was reportedly given citizenship in 2000.

After living in London, he returned to Iraq following the fall of Saddam’s regime.

Reports today claimed he could be brought back to Britain to face treason charges at the Old Bailey. It is understood, however, that no decisions have yet been taken on how Razaq will be dealt with.

Under a United Nations Security Council resolution, Coalition forces in Iraq are entitled to use "all necessary means" to deter terrorism and are able to intern those who pose a threat to security.

A total of 31 people are being held at the DTDF at Shaibah. Internees are not held in cells and are free to move around inside the facility.

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