Britain's Court of Appeal has rejected the British government's attempt to stop an Australian terror suspect from seeking British citizenship.

The suspect, David Hicks, is being held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hicks' mother was born in Britain and he has sought British citizenship hoping London would secure his release from Guantanamo, as it did for several British nationals held there.

Hicks, a convert to Islam, was captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2001 and accused of being an al Qaeda fighter.

The British government had refused his citizenship bid because of his alleged involvement with terrorism.  Britain's High Court rejected that position in December, and the Court of Appeals upheld the decision Wednesday.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.