The U.K. has deported radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he will stand trial for “terrorist acts.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, British PM David Cameron is “delighted.”
Qatada was sentenced “in absentia by Jordan in 1999” to a life sentence for terrorist activities and “faces trial.” However, his attorneys in the U.K. have been able to block his extradition by arguing that a return to Jordan would mean “risk of torture” and a situation where evidence obtained by torture “could be used against him.”
This impasse was recently averted when Qatada said he would voluntary return to Jordan if Britain and Jordan would ratify a treaty against torture.
NBC News reports Britain has accused Qatada of ties to Zacarias Moussaoui, “the only person charged in the United States over the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.” Moreover, tapes of Qatada’s sermons were found in an apartment used by the some of the 9/11 hijackers.
Qatada was unsuccessfully tried in the U.K. in 2001, yet British officials were able to detain him from 2002 to 2005 under an anti-terrorism law.
An elated Cameron said: “This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawins
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