Abu Qatada Flight Plans "Above Board"
But secret allegations still under discussion
Acton resident the radical cleric Abu Qatada is considering leaving the UK if he can find a country to take him, an immigration tribunal has heard.
The preacher, described as a threat to UK national security, was arrested on Saturday and accused of breaching his bail conditions. The home office tribunal was told Qatada may be planning to flee the UK.
Meanwhile, his counsel said he knew nothing about posts on an extremist website, urging a cleric to fight abroad, and that talks about him leaving were "above board". However, there are secret allegations against the cleric which are still being debated.
ActonW3.com can exclusively reveal that the cleric recently purchased a Wii games console but this is not currently thought to pose a threat to national security.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which acts as the UK's national security court, must decide whether to keep Mr Qatada in prison or allow him to return home to Acton on strict bail conditions.
In June, the cleric arrived in W3 after being released from jail. Judges said he could not be deported to his home country of Jordan where he was found guilty in his absence of terrorist offences. He has successfully argued that the convictions rely on evidence obtained by torture.
Under Qatada's bail conditions he is under a 22-hour home curfew, banned from access to mobile phones or the internet and also banned from meeting a long list of al-Qaeda members, including Osama Bin Laden.
The commission heard that the Home Office had made a series of allegations against the preacher, some of which will not be disclosed on national security grounds.
The public allegations include that a message was posted on an extremist website by Abu Yayha Al Libi, an alleged senior al-Qaeda member.
This message urged a leading scholar to "heed the call" and "make himself present with the Mujahideen on the battlefield", the SIAC heard.
Security officials allege that the message was aimed at Mr Qatada, who is also known as Omar Othman.
The preacher is also alleged to have breached his bail conditions with a video-taped sermon found in a police search of his home earlier in the autumn.
Mr Fitzgerald said the alleged sermon was merely a private talk to his children on the important of the Muslim festival Eid.
But Edward Fitzgerald QC, for the cleric, said the Jordanian-Palestinian had known nothing of the message until it was revealed to him in court on Tuesday. He said: "There's no suggestion of a response or receipt of the message by Mr Othman. This is really a completely tenuous and speculative basis for withdrawing his liberty."
Mr Fitzgerald said efforts had been made to find him a safe country where he would not face the risk of torture or an unfair trial. "He has taken legal advice on renouncing Jordanian citizenship and discussion of his legal return to Palestine [where he was born]." Qatada's solicitor, Gareth Peirce, and a writer, Victoria Britten have been assisting efforts to find him a safe country.
Mr Justice Mitting, chairman of the commission, said that the publicly stated grounds were not enough to justify revoking Mr Qatada's bail. However, argument continues over the secret allegations.
November 14, 2008
