LONDON, 13 November — Saudi businessman, Yassin Al-Qadi, won permission yesterday to challenge a UK government order that froze his assets because of alleged links to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda organization.

The order against Al-Qadi was branded as "draconian" by the judge at London’s High Court, Justice Scott Baker. Giving Al-Qadi permission to bring a full court challenge to the government’s move before the end of the year, the judge said there was an arguable case to challenge it.

"In my view this case is quite important because it is crucial that, when there are question marks about orders of this kind and draconian nature, they are properly tested in the courts," he said.

The freezing order was revealed in a news release containing a list of individuals and organizations with alleged terror links published by the US and British governments on Oct. 12. Al-Qadi’s lawyer, David Pannick, said: "In the present climate it is difficult to imagine a more serious slur on a person’s character than a suggestion from a government authority that an individual was implicated in or had some form of involvement with those who perpetrated the terrorist acts of Sept. 11 in the US."

The one-day hearing will take place at a date between Nov. 26 and Dec. 21. In the judicial review proceedings, Al-Qadi will be seeking from the High Court a declaration that HM Treasury’s decision was unlawful, and an order quashing it.

Al-Qadi has publicly condemned terrorism. "Our religion, Islam, does not accept the killing of innocent people, whatever their nationality or religion," he said.

Al-Qadi’s solicitors, Peter Carter Ruck & Partners, said the businessman was "horrified and shocked" to see that his name has been included on the FBI list. They said the "allegation that he supports or is in any way connected with terrorism" was totally without justification.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat daily, Al-Qadi had said that the inclusion of his name without any evidence was "tantamount to a human rights violation".

"I don’t have any connection, be it close or distant, with Al-Qaeda or its leader Bin Laden, either directly or indirectly," Al-Qadi told the Arabic daily.