London - Two Iraqi men accused of the murder of British bomb disposal officers in southern Iraq in 2003 have been handed over for trial to the Iraqi authorities despite a last-minute legal intervention by the European Court of Human Rights, the government in London confirmed Wednesday. Late Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based court issued an injunction blocking the transfer of the two men from British custody in Basra to the Iraqi High Tribunal, just hours after the Appeal Court in London approved the handover.
But despite the eleventh-hour proceedings, instigated by the two men's lawyers, British defence secretary John Hutton confirmed Wednesday that the suspects had been handed over to the Iraqi justice authorities.
Faisal Al-Saadoon,56, and Khalaf Mufdhi, 58, had been held by the British military in Basra in connection with the murder of bomb disposal officers Simon Cullingworth and Luke Allsop during disturbances in March, 2003.
Their lawyers argued that the men would face execution if they were handed over, and said a transfer for trial would violate both the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
But on Wednesday, lawyer Phil Shiner said the men's families had been told to prepare for the handover.
The Appeal Court in London ruled Tuesday that Iraqi police could go to the British compound in Basra and remove the prisoners once the UN mandate for British forces in Iraq expired after midnight on Wednesday.
However, that decision was frozen by a judge in Strasbourg who late Tuesday granted an interim injunction preventing the transfer until further notice.
But despite the legal tussle, Hutton confirmed that the men would be handed over.
According to Hutton, the Court of Appeal had ruled the men did not fall within the "jurisdiction" of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Britain would be a "breach of international law obligations" if it continued to detain the men, he said.
The European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg had asked Britain to retain custody of the two men "when we have no legal power to do so," said Hutton in a statement.
"Compliance with Strasbourg requests would normally be a matter of course but these are exceptional circumstances," the statement said.
"We cannot comply with requests to act in a manner which the UK Court of Appeal has held to be a breach of our international legal obligations. The only lawful action open to the UK was to transfer these individuals to the Iraqi authorities," it added.
