At the request of the Obama administration, a US Court of Appeals agrees to reconsider a decision allowing a case over the alleged involvement of a Boeing unit in the "extraordinary rendition" of terrorist suspects.

Five terror suspect detainees allege that the company, Jeppesen Dataplan of San Jose, participated in the CIA's extraordinary rendition program that led to their brutal interrogation at foreign or CIA prisons.

Washington, however, argues that should the case be heard, it would jeopardize US 'state secrets'.

Three Judges at the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had rejected arguments by the administrations of former president George W. Bush and incumbent Barack Obama in April.

However, the court said that an eleven-judge panel would rehear the case.

"The sum and substance of the United States' position in this litigation is that the government may engage in kidnapping and torture, declare those activities 'state secrets,' and by virtue of that designation alone avoid any judicial inquiry," the plaintiffs wrote in their filing, AFP reported.

"Permitting torture victims to seek justice in our courts will not endanger the nation."

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the five detainees, said it was disappointed by the court's ruling to rehear the case, but it expressed hope for the case to go forward.

"We are disappointed by the court's decision to re-hear this case, but we hope and expect that the court's historic decision to allow the lawsuit to go forward will stand," Ben Wizner, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an e-mailed statement.

While Obama has criticized "extraordinary renditions", he has fallen short of disavowing them, pledging only that no prisoners would be tortured.

Extraordinary rendition is the practice of abducting suspected terrorists and criminals from foreign soil without any extradition or legal proceedings, and taking them to other countries or CIA prisons for interrogation.

RB/MMN