Key ruling due on "Britain's Guantanamo"

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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's highest court decides today how far human rights can be restricted in the "war on terror" in a major judgment on detaining suspected foreign extremists without trial.

As well as ruling on draconian post-September 11 security policies, the Law Lords will determine the fate of nine men whose detention -- some for three years -- has become a cause celebre for rights activists.

They include radical Syrian cleric Abu Qatada, whom Britain calls the spiritual inspiration for the lead September 11 attacker.

Most of the nine, referred to in secret hearings only by their initials and believed to be all Muslim, are being held in London's top security Belmarsh jail: dubbed Britain's "Guantanamo" by campaigners who compare it to the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

"The power to intern is unjust and discriminatory -- a violation of human rights. The men should be charged if there is any evidence against them, or released if not," said Zoe Gillard, whose rights group Liberty plans a vigil outside court.

"This is one of the most important decisions in British constitutional history," she added.
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[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. The degree to which human rights are restricted will determine to an

extent the rate at which human beings join the ranks of those who would fight us to the death and then be known as "terrorists".