Ian Nisbett and Maajid Nawaz are led into a Cairo court

Londoner Ian Nisbet denies promoting Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic group banned in many Middle Eastern countries.

He and fellow Britons Reza Pankhurst and Maajid Nawaz were due to hear their fate on Christmas Day, but a decision was adjourned until March.

It will be nearly two years since their arrest and Alistair Nisbett told the BBC the case had become "a farce".

Mr Nisbett, from Northamptonshire, said their lawyers had discovered Hizb ut-Tahrir had never been banned in Egypt.

He said: "As the prime minister is on holiday in Egypt, it would be wonderful if he phoned his friend Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian prime minister, and asked him to call a halt to this case."

The three men, who are all in their twenties and from London and Essex, have been in a Cairo jail since they were arrested in April 2002.

Their case has been repeatedly delayed and they have claimed they were tortured and forced to sign confessions while in custody.