Lunatic holy man Abu Qatada was freed from prison on Tuesday after a UK court ruled he cannot be deported from Britannia to Jordan to face terrorism charges. Qatada has been dubbed the late Osama bin Laden's... who is no more...
right-hand man in Europe.
British authorities reluctantly released terror suspect Abu Qatada on bail Tuesday after judges ruled that the radical holy man dubbed Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe should not be extradited to Jordan.
Heavily bearded and wearing a black cap, the Islamist preacher smiled slightly as he was driven out of the high-security Long Lartin prison in central England in the back of a black minibus.
Several hours later, a small group of protesters gathered outside Abu Qatada's house in northwest London and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud calling for his deportation, as the father-of-five arrived at his modest terraced home.
The court ruling on Monday was a severe blow for the British government, which has kept the preacher in jug for most of the last 10 years and repeatedly tried to send him to Jordan.
"I am completely fed up with the fact that this man is still on the lam in our country. We believe he is a threat to our country," Prime Minister
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
said during a visit to Rome.
"We have moved heaven and earth to try and comply with every single dot and comma of every single convention to get him out of the country."
Abu Qatada was convicted in absentia in Jordan in 1998 for involvement in terror attacks, but British judges accepted his argument that evidence obtained by torture might be used against him in a retrial.
The preacher, a Jordanian of Paleostinian origin who is in his early 50s, will be under a curfew 16 hours a day but can leave his home between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.
He will have to wear an electronic tag and restrictions will be placed on who he meets.
The handful of protesters outside the preacher's house brandished a "Get Rid of Abu Qatada" banner.
"He shouldn't be here. He was supposed to be deported to Jordan. It's a disgrace," said Jackie Chaunt, 50.
The European Court of Human Rights had ruled earlier this year that Abu Qatada could not be deported while there was a "real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him" in a possible retrial.Home Secretary Theresa May ordered Abu Qatada's extradition anyway after she was given assurances by Jordan that he would be treated fairly.
But the Special Immigration Appeals Commission -- a semi-secret panel of British judges that deals with national security matters -- ruled in Qatada's favour.
They said statements from Abu Qatada's former co-defendants Al-Hamasher and Abu Hawsher may have been obtained by torture and created a risk that any trial would be unfair.
The holy man, whose real name is Omar Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britannia in 1993 claiming asylum and has been a thorn in the side of successive British governments.
Videos of his sermons were found in the Hamburg flat used by some of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He has also defended the killing of Jews and attacks on Americans.
A Spanish judge once branded him the right-hand man of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Europe, although Abu Qatada denies ever having met bin Laden.
Britannia initially jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
him in 2002 under anti-terror laws imposed in the wake of 9/11 but he was released under house arrest.
London first ordered his deportation in 2005 and his appeal against that order was rejected in 2009. May then signed a fresh deportation order and Abu Qatada appealed to the European court.
He was briefly freed on bail earlier this year but then re-locked away
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
In October Britannia extradited another radical Islamist preacher, Abu Hamza, and four other terror suspects to the United States.