Theresa May says cleric Abu Qatada can be deported

House of Commons live

Radical cleric Abu Qatada can be deported to Jordan after assurances were obtained that he will get a fair trial, the home secretary has told MPs.

In a statement to the Commons, Theresa May said he could now be removed from the UK "in full compliance of law".
But she admitted it could take "many months" as his lawyers could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Abu Qatada, who was arrested earlier on Tuesday, faces charges in Jordan of plotting bomb attacks.
Mrs May said he "deserves to face justice" in Jordan but warned that successive governments had been trying to deport him for a decade.
She said any appeal by the cleric would have to be based on "narrow grounds".

Abu Qatada is wanted in Jordan on terror charges

"We can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good," she said.
The cleric earlier appeared before a Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) hearing in central London following his arrest by UK Border Agency officials.
Lawyers for Mrs May told the hearing she intended to deport the cleric on or around 30 April.
Abu Qatada's legal team said he would apply for bail, the Judicial Communications Office said.
The European Court of Human Rights blocked his deportation to Jordan in January, saying evidence obtained by torture might be used against him.
Mrs May travelled to Jordan in March for talks with the king and ministers on the case of the 51-year-old Palestinian-Jordanian, whom ministers have described as "extremely dangerous".

“Start Quote

If there is untainted evidence against Abu Qatada then he should be tried in a British court”

End Quote Aamer Anwar Human rights lawyer

Abu Qatada is regarded by the government as a threat to UK national security.

A Home Office spokesman said on Tuesday: "UK Border Agency officers have today arrested Abu Qatada and told him that we intend to resume deportation proceedings against him."
A British judge had ended Abu Qatada's six-year UK detention in February, weeks after the European Court of Human Rights blocked his deportation.
He was released from Long Lartin high-security jail in Worcestershire on strict bail conditions, including a 22-hour curfew allowing him to leave home for a maximum of an hour, twice a day.
Shortly before the cleric was arrested, Conservative MP Peter Bone told the BBC the government should deport him and deal with any legal consequences afterwards.
'No hold-up' "All the assurances the European court wanted are there," he said.
"As the conditions are now met, he should be deported and there should be no hold-up."
But human rights lawyer and campaigner Aamer Anwar accused UK ministers of "condoning torture" by persevering with attempts to send him for trial in Jordan.
"The UK asserts the right to try suspects for the gravest crimes anywhere in the world in our courts and it's about time that the government exercised that prerogative," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
Abu Qatada has never been charged with any offence in the UK but British authorities have previously said he gave advice to those who aimed "to engage in terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings".
He faces a re-trial in Jordan for plotting bomb attacks against American and Israeli tourists during the country's millennium celebrations, offences he was convicted of in his absence.