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British court blocks deportation of terror suspectS

The British government’s policy of deporting terror suspects to countries that sign “no torture, no ill-treatment deals” was dealt a severe blow on Wednesday night after the appeal court blocked the removal of the Jordanian Abu Qatada and two Libyans.

The three judges halted the deportations of Qatada, who has been dubbed Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, and the two Libyans, known only as DD and AS, despite “memorandums of understanding” from Jordan and Libya promising that they would receive fair trials and not face torture.

Immediately after the rulings the UK Home Office said it was abandoning attempts to send back another 10 Libyan terror suspects, but insisted that Qatada would remain in Long Lartin maximum security prison in central England, pending an appeal to the House of Lords.

The judges blocked Qatada’s removal to Jordan on the grounds he could face a trial based on evidence obtained under torture by the Jordanian intelligence service.

The deportation of the two Libyans was halted on the grounds that the men would themselves be at risk of torture if they were sent back to Tripoli.
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