GENEVA, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled Wednesday that the United States' prohibition on cross-border gambling on the internet violated free trading agreements.

    In its 273-page report, a WTO panel said that some US measures on the issue represented an unfair trade barrier and were in consistent with the United States' commitments to the 148-member global trade body.

    The case was brought to the WTO in March last year by the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, whose officials estimate that online casinos employ some 3,000 of its 67,000 residents.

    Once the WTO issued the ruling report, the United States announced that it would file an appeal to the WTO's appellate body.

    "This panel report is deeply flawed," said a statement distributed in Geneva from the office of US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. It said that Washington would appeal it "vigorously."

    After the US files a written appeal, the WTO judges will have about three months to make a final decision. Enditem