http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2021713,00.html
Radical cleric loses deportation appeal Staff and agencies Monday February 26, 2007 Guardian Unlimited The Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada. Photograph: Prison service The radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada today lost his appeal against moves to deport him to his native Jordan in what was a landmark legal victory for the Home Office. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) ruled that Qatada faced "no real risk of persecution" if he was returned to Jordan, where his lawyers claim he could be tortured. The 45-year-old preacher - once described as Osama bin Laden's European ambassador - will seek leave to appeal the ruling at the court of appeal. Human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce said it was a "profoundly important appeal" that could have global ramifications. Qatada was sentenced in his absence to life imprisonment in Jordan for involvement in terrorist attacks dating back to 1998. At Siac hearings last May, his legal team said part of the government's case against him was based on evidence extracted by torture, and Ms Peirce today said he faced the prospect of trial by a military court using evidence obtained by torture if he was deported to Jordan. Amnesty International also voiced about the Siac decision. In its ruling - which has been hailed by the home secretary, John Reid - Siac cited safeguards obtained by the UK, principally the controversial "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) on not using torture that was signed between Britain and Jordan in 2005. The ruling has been seen as a first test of the legal robustness of memoranda of understanding. The government, which has agreed a number of them with other countries, wants to extradite a number of foreign terror suspects. Moves towards using MOUs as a key element of anti-terror policy follow a number of defeats for the government in the courts over previous attempts to detain foreign suspects indefinitely. Siac accepted that senior members of the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) security service had probably "sanctioned or turned a blind eye" to torture in the past. However, Siac said Jordan's government and the GID would be aware of the risks of ill-treating Qatada. Critics of MOUs say they are worthless and that extradited terror suspects could face death, torture or long prison sentences. Speaking of the possibility Qatada could face torture, Ms Peirce said this "would be so grotesquely unreconcilable with the concept of justice that it would constitute, we say, a complete denial of our responsibilities - to deport on that basis with that known prospect". However, Tony Blair's official spokesman said the Siac ruling had "recognised the value of memorandums of understanding and the assurances linked to them". Mr Reid said he welcomed "the decision of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission that Abu Qatada presents a threat to our national security and can be deported". He said he was pleased Siac had backed the MOU process, adding: "It is our firm belief that these agreements strike the right balance between allowing us to deport individuals who threaten the security of this country and safeguarding the rights of these individuals on their return." At the Siac hearings in May, Ian Burnett QC, a lawyer for Mr Reid, said it would be "extraordinary" if Jordan did not comply with the MOU's diplomatic assurances. Qatada has always denied being al-Qaida's European ambassador, insisting that he had never met Bin Laden. He has been held in British prisons for much of the last five years, and had been detained in the high security Belmarsh prison for around two years without charge until a December 2004 ruling said indefinite detention without trial was unlawful. After being released on a control order, he was returned to prison in August 2005 pending deportation. Two Algerian terror suspects deported to their homeland last month have been arrested, imprisoned and charged with terrorist activities, despite being assured by Algerian officials in Britain that they would face no criminal proceedings. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
