British court rules against deportation of radical cleric

A radical Islamist cleric — described by prosecutors as a key al Qaeda operative in Europe — cannot be deported from Britain to Jordan to face terrorism charges, judges ruled in the latest twist in a protracted legal saga.

Britain’s government has been attempting to expel radical preacher Abu Qatada since 2001, and immediately said it intended to mount an appeal.

Abu Qatada has previously been convicted in his absence in Jordan of terrorist offences related to two alleged bomb plots in 1999 and 2000, and he will face a retrial if deported there from Britain.

Though the government insisted it had won assurances from Jordan over how Abu Qatada’s case would be handled — including from Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who met with Cameron last week — judges said there was a real risk that evidence obtained through torture would be used against the cleric.

In a ruling, Britain’s Special Immigration Appeals Commission, which handles major terrorism and deportation cases, said it is not convinced that Jordan would guarantee Abu Qatada a fair trial.

It endorsed the January ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, that said “not only is torture widespread in Jordan, so too is the use of torture evidence by its courts.”

Britain’s Home Office said it would challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal, and oppose attempts by Abu Qatada’s lawyers to have him released from prison on bail.

“The government strongly disagrees with this ruling,” the ministry said.

Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-born Jordanian cleric whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, poses “an enormous risk to national security”, government lawyer Robin Tam told yesterday’s hearing.

Prosecutors in British and Spanish courts have previously described Abu Qatada as a senior al Qaeda figure who had close ties to Osama bin Laden.