MUSLIM cleric Abu Qatada, dubbed al-Qaeda's "spiritual head" in Europe, and five other foreign terrorism suspects who have been held in Britain without charge were freed today on bail, government sources said. Abu Qatada, a Palestinian detained since October 2002, has been described by a British judge as a "truly dangerous individual" and according to reports has been linked by Spanish authorities to those behind the bomb attacks in Madrid a year ago today. He and the five others, who were not named, had been held under a tough anti-terrorism law that was ruled unlawful by Britain's highest court last December.The law, adopted after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, expires on Monday, and Britain's parliament was today still debating a controversial bill that would replace it by creating a new set of restrictions for terror suspects including electronic tagging and house arrest. The six were expected to be given strict conditions for their release like those laid down for another suspect, known only as "A", who won bail yesterday. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission, set up to hear the cases of the detained foreign terrorism suspects, placed "A" under surveillance with an electronic tag, house curfew and other restrictions.
The releases coincide with a fierce political battle in parliament over the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which would impose similar restrictions, called "control orders", on foreign and British terror suspects. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair has locked horns with members of the House of Lords, parliament's unelected upper chamber, which is trying to water down the anti-terror measures, notably by making the bill expire automatically within a year if it is not renewed. The government desperately wants passage of the new law before the existing legislation expires Monday, and both Blair and the political opposition want to be seen as tough on terrorism ahead of a general election expected in May.