- Qatada smirked as he was led away from his north London home this afternoon
- The government has secured a deal to send the radical cleric to Jordan
- Theresa May warns it may still take some time before he is put on a plane
By
Emily Allen
03:55 EST, 17 April 2012
|
10:10 EST, 17 April 2012
Terror suspect Abu Qatada will be deported to Jordan as soon as possible, Home Secretary Theresa May announced today.
The Government said it has received the assurances it needed to ensure his deportation was lawful.
Mrs May said the radical cleric ‘deserves to face justice’ in Jordan, but warned that successive governments have been trying to deport him for ten years and it may still take some time before he can be put on a plane.
But Mrs May said: ‘We now have the material we need to satisfy the courts and continue with deportation.’
Smiling: Border Agency staff arrive to collect Abu Qatada – one of whom appears to have his possessions in a black bin liner – before he is escorted out of the house in north west London and taken away in a car
The radical cleric smirked as he was
arrested at his north west London this morning home just hours before
Mrs May’s emergency statement in the Commons, which signals the end of a
long and controversial battle for the government.
Last month, it emerged the cost of keeping watch on Qatada on bail comes to about £5million a year – a hundred times more than keeping him in a high-security jail.
He has been subject to a surveillance operation costing a £100,000 every week, as authorities monitored his every move to ensure he did not escape.
A team of undercover police officers arrested Qatada at his £400,000 family home near at 12.30pm. His family were said to be paying £1,900 a month rent which they funded through benefits.
Five smartly dressed officers, including one female officer, were in the
house for around 15 minutes before emerging with Qatada, who left the
house smiling and was not handcuffed.
Theresa May, pictured today, is expected to announce that a deal has been struck with Jordan to ensure Qatada’s removal from Britain
Dressed in white trainers and a full length grey tunic, he was taken to a black people carrier by the officers – one of whom seemed to be carrying a black bin liner of possessions.
A Home Office spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘UK Border Agency officers have today arrested Abu Qatada and told him
that we intend to resume deportation proceedings against him.’
It comes after Labour yesterday accused the Government of allowing ‘too much drift and delay’ in the case.
Europe’s human rights judges have
ruled Qatada cannot be deported to Jordan without assurances that evidence
gained through torture will not be used in his upcoming terror trial.
Mrs
May addressed MPs this afternoon as the deadline for any appeal to
the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights passes at
midnight.
She is not expected to appeal as the Home Office has been working to secure a deal with the Jordanian government in which it would give guarantees that torture evidence would not be used.
But the move to deport him with these assurances is likely to be challenged in court by Qatada’s legal team.
Qatada – described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe – was released from Long Lartin high-security jail in Evesham, Worcestershire, on February 13 after applying for bail following the ECHR ruling.
The Strasbourg-based court found that sending Qatada, 51, back without such assurances would be a ‘flagrant denial of justice’.
In her bid to deport Qatada, the Home
Secretary must also show a judge she has made progress in the case by
the beginning of next month or risk Qatada being freed from his
stringent bail conditions.
Five smartly dressed officers were in the house for around 15 minutes before emerging with Qatada, who left the house smiling and was not handcuffed
The European Court of Human Rights found that sending Qatada, 51, back without assurances that torture evidence won’t be used would be a ‘flagrant denial of justice’
Yesterday Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper
called for Mrs May to explain the steps she was taking to deport the
cleric, who was described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man
in Europe.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for Mrs May to explain the steps she was taking to deport the cleric
‘The Home Secretary needs to explain
urgently to Parliament what she is doing to get Abu Qatada deported, and
to make sure there are strong enough safeguards to protect public
safety in the meantime,’ Ms Cooper said.
‘The Home Secretary should have acted sooner in preventing the release of Qatada in the first place.’
She went on: ‘The Home Secretary needs to get an urgent grip of this case.
‘She needs to explain what assurances she still believes are required before she can take action, why she hasn’t successfully progressed Qatada’s deportation and why she failed to act sooner to possibly prevent his release in the first place.’
Her comments come after Keith Vaz, the chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, claimed that Jordanian officials have given the Government ‘all the assurances it needs’ to deport Qatada.
Qatada, who is considered a threat to the UK’s national security, was released under some of the toughest conditions imposed since the September 11 terror attacks.
He is free to leave his London home for
two one-hour periods each day, is banned from taking his youngest child
to school, and cannot talk to anyone who has not been vetted by the
security services.
He is also banned from visiting mosques, leading prayers, giving lectures or preaching, other than to offer advice to his wife and children at his home.
Abu Qatada’s home in Amman, Jordan. He was convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement with terror attacks in 1998 but has been living in London
Qatada, also known as Omar Othman, was convicted in his absence in Jordan of involvement with terror attacks in 1998 and has featured in hate sermons found on videos in the flat of one of the September 11 bombers.
Since 2001, when fears of the domestic terror threat rose in the aftermath of the attacks, he has challenged, and ultimately thwarted, every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him.
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Right! Should’ve been sent away ages ago. Now, all off to Northolt to wave him goodbye!!!
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For goodness sake just do it. Take our example from France and Italy, who do not bother with this ridiculous court, but deport their unwanted immigrants without delay, without reference to a court that no one wants.
JUST DO IT!!!!
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A bald tyre………no MOT………no Tax………parking where he shouldn’t………..the system would have kicked in and swallowed him up whole……….as it was he knew that did greater misdeeds seem to get you a pass to do whatever you like………….no wonder people are fed up ……………
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Dont break open the champagne………………….He has not gone yet.
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– Sue Van Sanden, Epsom, 17/4/2012 15:56 Put him on the first available plane or hot air baloon to US asap
Let’s not muck about – large catapult should do the trick!
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Good riddance to the evil swine.
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Smile away santa….now get out and stay out…
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You really cannot make it up that the Labour Party can criticise what the government are doing. They had 13 years to sort these problems out and did nothing. God know how many more of his type got in here through the “open door immigration” policy of Blair and Brown
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he has a lot to answer for he radicalised almost as many Muslims as Tony Blair.
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I have a great idea to get rid of parasites like quatada,Osborne should levy a £100,000 tax on beards!
Seriously though,lets hope May has got some spine and goes through with this and also his family.
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