BACK BEHIND BARS: Terror suspect re-arrested

Jordan has said it would “bend over backwards” to ensure Qatada receives a fair trial over terror charges, a senior immigration judge said yesterday.

The Government hopes its latest bid to deport the Jordanian radical cleric, who has been described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, will mark the end of its 10-year battle to remove him from the UK.

Qatada was released from jail in February under some of the toughest bail conditions seen since the September 11 attacks.

This came after Europe’s human rights judges ruled he could not be deported to Jordan without assurances that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

But with those now secured by Home Secretary Theresa May, the 51-year-old could be put on a plane lawfully. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs May pointed to a change in the Jordanian constitution last autumn “that includes a specific ban on the use of torture evidence” and was cheered as she told MPs Qatada had been arrested.

But the battle will continue, with Qatada’s legal team warning they will fight any moves to deport him. He was convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement with terror attacks in 1998. Since 2001, when fears of the domestic terror threat rose in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, he has challenged, and ultimately thwarted, every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him.