Iraqi fights detention by British

Mr Jedda has been held in Basra since October

A man being held by UK forces in Iraq without charge or access to a court has asked to have his detention ruled unlawful and a breach of human rights.

Hilal Abdul-Razzaq Ali al-Jedda, who was born in Iraq but had been living in London after gaining asylum, has been held in Basra since 10 October, 2004.

The Ministry of Defence said he was being held as a suspected member of a terrorist group, which he denies.

Mr Jedda's lawyer said the government was disregarding human rights laws.

New wife

Mr Jedda, 47, who came to the UK in 1992 and received indefinite leave to remain in 1994, had been living in London and his four young children are all British citizens.

Last October, he took his children to Baghdad via Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to meet his new wife, having divorced his first wife in 2001.

Our rights are being taken away by what is essentially a political organisation Nigel Giffin QC

The MoD said it suspected Mr Jedda of being a member of a group involved in weapons smuggling and attacks with explosives.

He was detained by US forces and handed over to the British but Mr Jedda says his visit was for family reasons and nothing to do with terrorism.

On Wednesday two High Court judges were told Mr Jedda should be allowed to return home to the UK.

Nigel Giffin QC, appearing for Mr Jedda, said in his client had been "simply been interned" by Army officers using powers claimed to have been provided by UN Security Council Resolution 1546, passed in June 2004.

The internment breached Mr Jedda's Article 5 right under the European Convention on Human Rights not to be deprived of his liberty, except in accordance with due legal process, he said.

'No bite'

The MoD defended the detention on the grounds that the resolution "disapplied" all human rights protection from terror suspects and authorised a system of indefinite detention without trial.

But no legal power had been given to the Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF) to disapply human rights laws, argued Mr Giffin.

He told Mr Justice Moses and Mr Justice Richards: "There is no peg in the Human Rights Act on which the UN resolution can hang its hat," he said.

"Our rights are being taken away by what is essentially a political organisation."

Mr Jedda's solicitor Phil Shiner had previously said the case backed up accusations made recently by Lord Steyn in the House of Lords, when he said the British and US governments were determined "to bend established international law to their will and to undermine its essential structures".

"If the government argument is right, laws fought for over the last 50 years to protect human rights will have no bite and go out of the window.

"It will mean that they can be overridden by the US, UK or any other super power on the Security Council," added Mr Shiner.

Lawyers for Defence Secretary John Reid are fighting the application for judicial review. The MoD said it expected the court to confirm the legality of the detention.