Britain yesterday released terror suspect Abu Qatada from prison on bail after judges ruled that the man dubbed Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe should not be extradited to Jordan.
The radical Islamist preacher, who is in his early 50s, was driven out of the high-security Long Lartin prison in central England in a black van at high speed, television pictures showed.
Abu Qatada was expected to be taken to his home in northwest London, where he will be under a curfew 16 hours a day, but can leave his home between 8am and 4pm.
Photo: Reuters
He will have to wear an electronic tag and who he meets will be restricted.
The heavily bearded Jordanian of Palestinian origin has been in jail in Britain for the past seven years fighting extradition, and also spent much of the time between 2002 and 2005 in detention or under house arrest.
Abu Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan in 1998 for involvement in terror attacks.
The decision by senior judges on Monday to uphold his appeal against extradition to Jordan was a major blow for the British government, which has fought for seven years to deport him.
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday said that the government was determined to deport Abu Qatada.
“We strongly disagree with the court ruling. We are going to challenge it, we are going to take it to appeal,” Clegg told ITV television.
“We are absolutely determined to see this man get on a plane and go back to Jordan; he does not belong here,” Clegg said.
British Home Secretary Theresa May has said she had ordered Abu Qatada’s extradition after she was given assurances by Jordan that no evidence gained through the torture of two other men would be used against him in a retrial.
However, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission — a semi-secret panel of British judges that deals with decisions on national security — said that could not be guaranteed.
May told parliament after Monday’s decision: “Qatada is a dangerous man, a suspected terrorist, who is accused of serious crime in his home country of Jordan.”
She said she believed that the judge who made the final decision had applied the “wrong legal test” in finding in Abu Qatada’s favor, adding: “It is deeply unsatisfactory that Abu Qatada has not already been deported to Jordan.
“Successive governments have tried to remove him since December 2001. He has a long-standing association with al-Qaeda. British courts have found that he ‘provides a religious justification for acts of violence and terror,’” she said.
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.
May then traveled to Jordan to secure guarantees from Amman that he would receive a fair trial and the European court subsequently gave the go-ahead for him to be extradited.
However, the immigration tribunal ruled on Monday that statements from Abu Qatada’s former co-defendants — Al-Hamasher and Abu Hawsher — which were alleged to have been obtained by torture, created a risk that any trial would be unfair.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from