UK to Deport 10 Fascislamists, Including Bin Laden Fan Abu Qatada

The British Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has used the power of his office as bestowed by Act of Parliament to detain 10 non-Brits whose presence in the UK is “not conducive to the public good.” The Home Office is one of the remaining bastions of understatement. Jordanian national Abu Qatada, who has been accused by Spanish prosecutors of being an inspiration for those who launched the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, is one of the 10.

The government will try to deport these people but the Human Rights Act is a stumbling block. British law forbids the deportation of those who have a reason to fear persecution or execution if they are sent back to where they came from. Since some of these fellows would be sent home to such human rights-bereft places as Lebanon, Algeria and Jordan, the Home Office has tried to negotiate safeguards to get around this prohibition.

In a Memo of Understanding between London and Amman, the government of Jordan agreed to go easy on Mr. Qatada, “It is understood that the authorities of the United Kingdom and of Jordan will comply with their human rights obligations under international law regarding a person returned under this arrangement.” This has upset Mr. Qatada's lawyer, Gareth Peirce, who has said, “The Home Office did not think it necessary to give a single word of explanation to those individuals as to why this morning they can be safely deported to their respective countries of origin when last night they could not.”

A little help is in order then, for the counselor. Mr. Qatada is not a British subject. Therefore, he is in the UK at the sufferance of the British people. He was admitted to the UK in 1994 on a forged passport and was given leave to stay for 4 years. In 2001, when the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act became law, his application to stay indefinitely had yet to be decided. In February 2001, anti-terrorism police found him in possession of £170,000, including an envelope marked “For the Mujahedin in Chechnya,” which held £805 (like a great many clerics, he seems to have very high overheads if he can’t spare even 1%). Charges should have been brought, but the government didn’t do so. And his taped sermons were found in the Hamburg apartment of the 9/11 hijackers.

Why is he still in Britain, counselor? He has abused the hospitality of his hosts, and he has lost his privilege of being in Britain. If he doesn’t face execution in Jordan (where he was convicted in absentia for terrorist activities and sentenced to hang), just how much more does Britain owe him?


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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