A former member of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard has been denied permission to stay in Sweden

James Savage:

The Swedish Migration Court ruled that the man, who says that his life was threatened because he refused to join a terrorist organization, should return to Britain to have his case tried there.

The man, 34, fled to Sweden via Britain, where he applied for asylum under a false name, Dagens Nyheter reports. He said he lied to British authorities because he was afraid that Britain's role in Iraq would lead to his deportation.

The Swedish Migration Board had ruled that under the Dublin Convention, his claim had to be processed in Britain, the first European Union country he had sought asylum.

But it had also written that it rejected his asylum application, which the man argued meant that the board had itself considered his case.

The court threw out the man's arguments, saying that the Migration Board had not actually ruled on material aspects of his case. The fact that their ruling was not written in accordance with normal practice did not mean that Sweden had taken over responsibility.

Illegal immigrants in Sweden face a stark choice: life or death, what can you afford?