A Moroccan man accused of links with al-Qaeda and involvement in the 9/11 and Madrid attacks will remain in custody after losing his appeal at the House of Lords.

Farid Hilali, 36, was granted a writ of habeas corpus – freeing him from detention - by the High Court in April last year while he was awaiting extradition to Spain on charges of conspiracy to murder.

A habeas corpus writ is a means through which lawyers can appeal to the High Court to overturn an unlawful detention order.

However, this morning five law lords allowed an appeal by the Spanish authorities against the High Court ruling. They affirmed the June 2005 decision of a senior district judge to order Mr Hilali’s extradition to Spain.

Lord Hope, announcing the decision, said the “offences of conspiracy to commit the offence of murder of persons in the United States and of destroying, damaging or endangering the safety of aircraft... are the only offences in respect of which he is to be extradited”.

Two High Court judges, Lady Justice Smith and Mr Justice Irwin, had ruled that Mr Hilali’s incarceration under a European arrest warrant was arbitrary and unjustified.

They said his detention in custody while he was awaiting extradition had become unlawful due to a fundamental change in circumstances since the making of the order.

But setting aside the High Court’s order, Lord Hope said today that there was “no reason whatever” to believe that Mr Hilali would not have a fair trial.

He has remained in detention since the High Court ruling because judges refused bail pending the appeal to the House of Lords.

Mr Hilali, who was first arrested in London in 2003, is being held at Whitemoor top security prison,Cambridgeshire.

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