British citizen appeals against three-year detention in Iraq
Iraq-UK, Politics, 10/30/2007

Detention Lawyers for a British-Iraqi citizen, held in Iraq by UK troops forces for the past three years on suspicion of terrorism, started a legal challenge Monday to rule that his detention is unlawful and that he should be returned to Britain.

Hilal al-Jedda, who has been held since October 2004 without charge, was making an appeal to the House of Lords, Britain's highest judicial authority.

Lawyers are arguing that the European convention on human rights, incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act, provides in article 5 that "everyone has the right to liberty and security of the person." But Britain's Ministry of Defense has counterclaimed that the convention does not protect Jedda because he was arrested under the authority of UN resolution 1546 and that the UN charter says the obligations of member states prevail over other obligations.

Jedda, a 50 year old former basketball player, was born in Iraq but successfully claimed asylum in the UK in the 1990s. He is the father of six children, including four who are British.

He was reportedly originally detained by US forces in October 2004 on a visit to Iraq and then handed over to British forces in Basra.

The MoD is said to suspect him of being a member of a terrorist group involved in weapons smuggling and attacks with explosives. He denies the accusations.

Previous Stories:
  UK denies allegations of Iraqi abuse by British troops   (10/23/2007)
  Iran refutes UK defense secretary's allegations   (10/23/2007)
  UN urges Britain to take in more Iraqis   (10/16/2007)

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