The warrant was returned to the issuing court in Britain for "technical and procedural" reasons, after General Almog had left the jurisdiction. He flew back to Israel from Heathrow on Sunday last week without leaving the El Al flight that had brought him to the UK.

Tony Blair promised to "look into" the matter after Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, raised it during a meeting at the United Nations in New York. When Mr Blair invited him to visit London, Mr Sharon joked that he might finish up behind bars.