UK human rights law did apply to Iraq, say Lords

LONDON, June 13 (Reuters) Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled today that European human rights law did apply to British troops serving in Iraq in the case of an Iraqi man who died in British custody four years ago.

The decision means that an independent inquiry, long resisted by the government, must now be opened into the death of Baha Musa, an Iraqi hotel receptionist who died in September 2003 after being detained, hooded and beaten by British troops.

REUTERS SM ND1514