Britain cannot deport cleric linked to Bin Laden, European judges rule

Abu Qatada, described as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, won his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the UK’s efforts to deport him to Jordan with assurances he would not be tortured.

Home Secretary Theresa May vowed it was “not the end of the road”, saying Qatada would be kept behind bars while she considered all legal options to send him back.

These include an appeal or seeking assurances from Jordan that evidence gained through torture would not be used in any trial.

Qatada claimed asylum in Britain in September 1993 and was convicted in his absence in Jordan of being involved in two terrorist conspiracies in 1999. The EHCR ruling said evidence of his involvement was obtained following torture of a co-defendant and there was no assurance the evidence would not be used again.

He was first detained in the UK in 2002, when an immigration court described him as a “truly dangerous individual”, and has issued a series of influential fatwas supporting the killing of non-believers. A number of his videos were found in the Hamburg flat of Mohammed Atta, one of the September 11 hijackers.

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett warned that Qatada was “extraordinarily dangerous and we don’t want him on our streets” but Gareth Peirce, Qatada’s solicitor, said: “What message would it have sent to the rest of the world if the European Court of Human Rights had held that it was acceptable to send a civilian to be tried in a military court on evidence emanating from torture?”