A TERRORIST was killed by a drone after human rights laws prevented the SAS from seizing him, an ex-minister claims.
Instead of facing a court in the UK to answer for his crimes, the I.S. suspect was taken out in the RAF strike.
He was among several killed after snatch operations were ruled out because of European human rights laws, the former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told The Spectator magazine.
The terrorist, who was making biological weapons, died in Syria in 2022 in a Hellfire missile blitz.
Mr Wallace said lawyers told him the European Convention on Human Rights made it illegal to hand over suspects to Syria due to the risk of torture.
It was also illegal to take them to Britain as there is no extradition treaty with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
He told the magazine it was a “frustrating” outcome.
In many cases, he would have preferred a UK trial “rather than making those who seek to do us harm into martyrs”.
The former Army officer said his options often narrowed to a drone strike when MoD lawyers said a suspect could not be rendered across a border, or handed to a pariah regime like Syria.
He added: “We simply could not put British personnel into that position on the ground.
“The only option therefore to stop the threat was often a kinetic strike.”
And Mr Wallace told The Sun: “If there is no extradition treaty or ECHR compliant pathway, then you can’t do ops that risk anyone surrendering nor can you embark on snatch squads.”
