Home Office Claims Abu Qatada Won't Return To The UK

Jordan has cleared the radical Muslim cleric of terrorism charges.

Today, two civilian judges cleared the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada of plotting a terrorist attack during millennium celebrations in Jordan on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Qatada was deported from the UK last year after a long legal battle with the UK government.

The deportation order was only signed after the UK and Jordan agreed a treaty pledging not to use evidence gained through torture.

Qatada's real name is Omar Othman. He was initially granted asylum in the UK in 1994, having arrived in September 1993 saying he had been tortured in Jordan.

Abu Qatada's retrial in Jordan was made possible thanks to this government's determination to successfully deport him from the UK to face the courts in his own country.It is right that the due process of law has taken place in Jordan. The UK courts agreed that Abu Qatada posed a threat to national security in the UK, so we are pleased that we were able to remove him.Abu Qatada remains subject to a deportation order and a United Nations travel ban. He is not coming back to the UK.

Prior to Qatada's deportation, senior Tories cited Britain's inability to deport him as a possible reason for leaving the European Union.

Following today's verdict, David Allen Green, the Financial Times legal commentator, was quick to praise the European Court of Human Rights.

Many MPs and tabloids wanted person deported to face prosecution on torture-gained evidence. Only ECHR prevented that. Today, 'not guilty'.

Instead of leaving ECHR to deport Abu Qatada, the UK was right to instead insist Jordan did not use torture-gained evidence.

So: person found not guilty after a State prosecutor not able to rely on torture-gained evidence. Hurrah for human rights law.

After arriving from Jordan, Qatada became an increasingly influential presence in London. According to the BBC:

During his early years in London, Abu Qatada preached at the Fourth Feathers community centre near Regent's Park and held meetings in his own home, both of which became a hub for exiled Islamists.

Abu Qatada advocated imposing Islamic government on Muslim lands. He said that Islamic law justified taking up arms against despots and foreign invaders because they were the enemies of Muslims.

Initially, MI5 turned to him for help, hoping he could act as a buffer against Islamic extremism.

But by 1995, he had, according to Channel 4 News, "issued an "influential fatwa" from his base at the Four Feathers Social Club on Baker Street that justified the killing of the wives and children of 'apostates' (those who reject Islam) in order to stop the oppression of Muslims in Algeria."

The BBC says: "The practical effect was that armed Islamists in the country used his ruling to justify their attacks against civilians on the basis that anyone who was not with them was against them."

By 2001, Qatada was issuing rulings justifying suicide attacks.

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