LONDON, July 30: The newly-imposed British anti-terrorism law suffered a setback here on Tuesday after nine suspected international terrorists won an appeal against their imprisonment without trial.

The group, arrested under the new anti-terrorism law persuaded the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that their detention was unlawful.

The chairman of the Commission, Justice Collins, said the government’s Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, which was rushed through after the Sept 11 attacks, was not only “discriminatory but also unlawful.”

Justice Collins said the newly-imposed anti-terrorism law breached the European Convention on Human Rights, because it allowed the detention of foreign nationals only, even though British citizens may have been equally involved with Al Qaeda or other terrorist organisations.