Jew World Order

For almost two decades, Abu Qatada has been resisting efforts to deport him to
Jordan, where he faces charges of plotting bomb attacks. Until earlier this
month, the European Court of Human Rights had barred his deportation on the
basis that evidence obtained through torture may be used in Jordanian
courts. Now the Home Office will revive the process of seeking to send him
back.

The Jordanian government has offered repeated assurances that Qatada will be
treated according to international human rights standards. “He will be
treated in a normal, respectful manner like all other detainees. He is a
Jordanian national who was convicted in absentia [for terrorism offences]
and he will face a re-trial,” said the former justice minister Ibrahim
al‑Jazi, who resigned last week.

The task of monitoring Qatada’s treatment falls upon the Amman-based Adaleh
Centre for Human Rights. The NGO was appointed by mutual agreement between
Britain and Jordan in the 2005 memorandum of understanding that explained
procedures for deporting detainees to the kingdom.

“We have a team trained to combat torture,” said Asem Rababa, the general
manager of Adaleh. “We have 30 people, including psychiatrists, human rights
activists and specialists on prison issues.” Findings of ill-treatment would
be reported to Britain’s Home Office, added Rababa.

The British ambassador in Amman has been working with Jordan’s Ministry of
Justice to draft a further binding letter of cooperation, including an
assurance that evidence obtained through mistreatment would be nullified.

Qatada will be put on trial in a court that specialises in “crimes against the
state”. But new agreements stipulate that Qatada – and any other civilian
tried in the court – will appear before a panel of civilian judges, instead
of the usual military judiciary, a change meant to improve judicial
independence.

Critics, including human rights organisations, question if Jordan’s assurances
are genuine. A government source said that the Adaleh Centre is closely
connected to the feared mukhabarat, the Jordanian secret police.

Speaking anonymously, an official who met the Home Secretary Theresa May
during her last visit recounted the moment when May asked how Abu Qatada
would be treated. She was told: “If we had it our way we would cut him to
pieces, but we will be nice to him because you want us to”.

One who claims he knows about this is the militant Salafi, Dr Saad al-Hunity.
Following his arrest during protests last year, Hunity was taken to
Muwaqqer, where he says he was beaten and kept in solitary confinement for
four months. “They stripped me naked and the guards shouted insults as they
beat me,” said Hunity.

He was taken to what he describes as “Muwaqqer 2”, part of the prison that
police guards alluded to but did not show to this newspaper. “They threw me
in a tiny cell with just a thin mattress on the floor. Guards beat me,” said
Hunity.

Hassan Abu Hanieh, an analyst of Islamic groups, smiles wryly when asked about
the treatment of Salafi jihadists in prisons. A former Salafi, Hanieh has
been incarcerated 12 times. “Don’t ask me how the mukhabarat treats people…
If they don’t beat you, they are not from the intelligence services,” he
said.

Deporting Qatada from Britain would certainly be cheaper than keeping him here
(the estimated bill is £3 million so far). But besides human rights
concerns, questions remain over security issues if he is returned to Jordan.

Imprisonment there could raise the ire of Jordan’s jihadi groups, prompting
instability in the already tense kingdom – or, agree Hanieh and Hunity,
increase the likelihood of revenge attacks against the UK. This is one of
the reasons that Jordan would prefer him to stay away. “We are not very
eager to have him back. But he is a Jordanian national, so if he is back he
is back,” said former justice minister Jazi.

When asked if Qatada is influential enough that his imprisonment in Jordan
might lead to attacks against London on a similar scale to 7/7, Hunity
pauses. “I would not rule that out,” he says.

“It could prompt attacks against Britain. Jihadis around the world, including
al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the Arab peninsula, have issued a statement
on Qatada,” said Hanieh. Abu Qatada’s power stems from his capacity to
influence Islamic radicals. “He is a symbol for millions of Muslims,” said
Hunity.

Hanieh, who is a close friend of Abu Qatada, provided The Daily Telegraph with
rare insight into the “man behind the beard”. Growing up together, Hanieh
remembers Qatada’s charm: “He was charismatic and smart. He was popular in
school.” Qatada loved drama and football, also helping his father run the
family’s falafel shop.

He became involved with Sufism, or mystical Islam, when he was an adolescent.
“He started wearing the white dish-dash and turban. He followed the men with
long beards calling for us to fast,” said Hanieh. “We laughed at him.”

As a pimply teenager, Qatada was already giving sermons at religious
gatherings. “Often the meetings could number 3,000 people. Speaking at them
was usually reserved for religious men with great experience, but Qatada was
just 18. He moved people. We started to change,” Hanieh said. “We found
political Islam.” Against the will of his parents, who were not then
religious, Qatada enrolled in Sharia studies at university. Like most young
men, though, he was interested in women. “He used to tell me he was in love
with a girl. But it was a one-sided love,” laughed Hanieh.

In 1992, Qatada attended training camps in Pakistan, where his views became
more extreme. In 1994, he settled in Britain. “Britain was a safe haven for
us. But now there is a worse dictatorship there than there is here,” said
Hanieh, referring to the strict bail conditions Qatada is subject to in the
UK.

If sent to Jordan, the cleric could yet walk free, as some of those convicted
on the same charges that stand against Qatada have since been acquitted. But
could imprisoning Qatada spark anger from Jordan’s Islamist community? “If
he is back and he is pardoned, there will be no problem,” said Jazi.
Releasing Qatada in Jordan would not produce the same backlash as in the UK.
“In Britain there is huge publicity about Abu Qatada,” he added. “Here, they
don’t care.”

Some of Qatada’s colleagues have already found their way back to the dusty
streets of his childhood town. One is a teacher at Qatada’s old school, a
Salafi jihadi Jordanian-Palestinian who was mentored by Abdullah Azzam, the
spiritual guide of al-Qaeda’s former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. “Abdullah
Azzam was a perfect man. He was my brother in Islam,” said the teacher, who
did not want to be identified. “I took part in training in Pakistan, where I
was taught how to use weapons and prepare for jihad.”

Residents said they would welcome Qatada’s return. Another teacher at Qatada’s
school said: “He was committed, religious, righteous and ambitious. He has
not done anything wrong… he is welcome to come back.”

It remains to be seen whether he will return to the streets of his childhood
days, rot in a dingy cell, languish in the privilege of Muwaqqer’s public
relations prison wing, or fulfil expectations as a cleric with the capacity
to mobilise extremism. The fate of Abu Qatada has yet to be sealed.

Additional reporting: Suha Ma’ayeh