A US federal judge has halted the war crimes trial of an Australian terror suspect detained in the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

In her ruling, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly suspended for several months the US military's plan to resume the trial of David Hicks, the Aussie charged with fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The move follows a request made by his lawyers, according to the report.

Kollar-Kotelly cited the Supreme Court's decision last week to review the legality of the military commissions being used to try Guantanamo detainees with war crimes.

The court ruling concerns the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was a driver for Osama bin Laden and has been accused of participating in terrorist activities.

After the Supreme Court agreed to consider the issue, the Pentagon said it would nonetheless go forward with plans to try Hicks under the same procedure.

The military commission which sits at Guantanamo had been scheduled to hear motions in the Hicks case beginning on Friday.

However, Kollar-Kotelly's ruling halted the process. She also ordered that Hicks's trial should be postponed until after the Supreme Court rules in the Hamdan case, which is expected in June next year.

Hicks and Hamdan, along with seven other Guantanamo detainees, have been charged with war crimes.

The Kollar-Kotelly ruling means, in effect, that none of the proceedings can go forward until the Supreme Court resolves the issue of the legality of the military commissions.

Last year, another US district judge ruled that the commissions violated both domestic laws and international conventions.

However, in July 2005, a three-judge appeal court, including John Roberts before he became the chief justice of the Supreme Court in October, overturned that ruling.

Source: Xinhua