Toughest bail plan for cleric linked to bin Laden

Abu Qatada will be banned from taking his youngest child to school, must stay inside his home for 22 hours a day and cannot talk to anyone who has not been vetted by the security services first when he is released from jail.

The 51-year-old has been held for six-and-a-half years, more than any other detainee in modern immigration history, while fighting deportation.

But the cleric, once described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, will be released from Long Lartin high-security prison in Evesham, Worcestershire, after applying for bail when human rights judges in Europe ruled he could not be deported without assurances from Jordan that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

Under the terms of his release, the Home Secretary has three months to show the Government is making significant progress in securing his deportation or risk Qatada being freed from his bail conditions.

These were agreed between lawyers yesterday as a Jordanian government minister said the country was working with the UK to give the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) the assurances it needed.

Qatada will only be allowed outside his London home in a prescribed area for two one-hour periods each day – and will be kept in during the school run.

An edited eight-page summary of the terms released by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) showed he will be banned from meeting 27 people, including al-Zawahiri, radical cleric Abu Hamza, and terror suspect Babar Ahmad.

Qatada, who must wear an electronic tag, is also banned from using the internet and mobile phones, as well as meeting or communicating with anyone who is subject to Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpims).

He will also be barred from leading prayers, giving lectures or preaching, other than to offer advice to his wife and children, and is banned from making any statement without the prior approval of the Home Secretary.

Should he meet an acquaintance in a “genuinely chance situation” in the street, he “must, after any initial greeting, disengage himself from the situation (whether by explaining the terms of his bail order or by making an excuse)”.

Jordanian legislative affairs minister Ayman Odeh said the country had now banned the use of evidence obtained through torture.