Terror Suspect Reluctantly Released from British Prison
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- Category: News
- Created on Saturday, 17 November 2012 21:05
- Rachel Hirshfeld - Arutz Sheva
Abu QatadaBritish authorities reluctantly released terror suspect Abu Qatada on bail Tuesday after judges ruled that the radical cleric seen in the past as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe should not be extradited to Jordan, AFP reported.Several hours after the Islamic preacher was released from the high-security Long Lartin prison in central England, a small group of protesters gathered outside Abu Qatada's house in northwest London and chanted slogans calling for his deportation.
The court ruling on Monday was a severe blow for the British government, which has kept the preacher in custody for most of the last 10 years and repeatedly tried to send him to Jordan.
"I am completely fed up with the fact that this man is still at large in our country. We believe he is a threat to our country," Prime Minister David Cameron said during a visit to Rome.
"We have moved heaven and earth to try and comply with every single dot and comma of every single convention to get him out of the country,” he said.
Abu Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan in 1998 for involvement in terror attacks, but British judges accepted his argument that evidence obtained by torture might be used against him in a retrial.
The preacher, a Jordanian in his early 50s, will be under a curfew 16 hours a day but can leave his home between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, according to AFP.
He will have to wear an electronic tag and abide by set restrictions.
The handful of protesters outside the preacher's house brandished a "Get Rid of Abu Qatada" banner.
The European Court of Human Rights had ruled earlier this year that Abu Qatada could not be deported while there was a "real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him" in a possible retrial.
Despite the ruling, however, Home Secretary Theresa May ordered Abu Qatada's extradition after she was given assurances by Jordan that he would be treated fairly.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission -- a semi-secret panel of British judges that deals with national security matters -- ruled in Qatada's favour.
They said statements from Abu Qatada's former co-defendants Al-Hamasher and Abu Hawsher may have been obtained by torture and created a risk that any trial would be unfair, AFP reported.
The cleric, whose real name is Omar Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britain in 1993 seeking asylum.
Videos of his sermons were found in the Hamburg flat used by some of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He has also defended the killing of Jews and attacks on Americans.
A Spanish judge once branded him the right-hand man of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Europe, although Abu Qatada denies ever having met bin Laden.
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