SUNDAY EXPRESS: FIREBRAND preacher Abu Qatada is set to heap more embarrassment on the Government with a compensation claim for £500,000 for wrongful imprisonment.
Qatada, 48, once described as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, was granted bail by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last week after defeating the Government’s attempts to deport him to Jordan.
The radical cleric, who once called on British Muslims to martyr themselves, was convicted in his absence of involvement in two bombings of hotels in Amman in 1998. Tapes of his sermons were also found in a flat in Germany used by some of the 9/11 hijackers.
The Bethlehem-born Muslim was jailed six years ago under anti-terror laws rushed in after the twin towers attacks in 2001. He was released in 2004 but arrested again in 2005.
Last month the Appeal Court ruled that he could not be deported on human rights grounds as some of the evidence against him was allegedly obtained through torture and there was no guarantee he would not be tortured in Jordan. Preacher in £500,000 Bid >>> By Brendan Abbot | May 11, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
