UK arrests Muslim cleric, seeking deportation

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UK arrests Muslim cleric, seeking deportation

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Abu Qatada has denied the allegations against him.

17 April,2012 08:27 pm

British authorities have arrested Abu Qatada, whom they describe as an inspiration to terrorists that include one of the hijackers who struck on September 11, 2001, the Home Office said Tuesday.The United Kingdom will resume efforts to deport him to Jordan, the government said.Jordan will detain him give him a full trial when he arrives in the country, Justice Minister Ibrahim Aljazy said after Britain announced the arrest.Britain views Abu Qatada as a national security threat, but the European Court of Human Rights barred the country from deporting him because evidence gained from torture could be used against him.The two countries have been in talks since the ruling earlier this year. Both sides want him sent to Jordan, where he has already been convicted in absentia of involvement in terrorist conspiracies.Jordan wants Qatada to return homeBritish dilemma over Abu Qatada releaseRadical cleric released from UK jailAbu Qatada was released from a high security prison on bail in February, the British Ministry of Justice said.He had been imprisoned in Britain for six years while the government worked to send him to Jordan, where he holds citizenship.The British government claims Abu Qatada has raised money for terrorist groups, including organizations linked to former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and has publicly supported the violent activities of those groups.Abu Qatada has denied the allegations against him.Also known as Omar Othman, Abu Qatada arrived in the United Kingdom in 1993 and applied for asylum on the grounds that he had been tortured by Jordanian authorities. He came to Britain on a forged United Arab Emirates passport, according to court documents, and claimed asylum for himself, his wife and their three children.The British government recognized him as a refugee and allowed him to stay in the country until 1998.Abu Qatada applied to stay indefinitely, but while his application was pending, a Jordanian court convicted him in absentia on charges related to two 1998 terrorist attacks and a plot to plant bombs to coincide with the millennium.He was released briefly in 2005 after the repeal of the anti-terrorism law on which he was being held. British authorities ordered his renewed detention that year under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, according to the European Court of Human Rights.