Radical cleric Qatada freed under 22-hour curfew

Published on Tuesday 14 February 2012 00:00

A RADICAL cleric who poses a serious risk to the UK’s national security has been freed on bail under some of the toughest conditions imposed since the 11 September terror attacks.

Abu Qatada cannot take his youngest child to school, must stay in his home for 22 hours a day and cannot talk to anyone who has not been vetted by the security services.

Once described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, Qatada will also be banned from meeting 27 named individuals, including new al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, radical cleric Abu Hamza and terrorist suspect Babar Ahmad.

Qatada, 51, has been held for six and a half years, more than any other detainee in modern immigration history, while fighting deportation.

But he has been released from Long Lartin high-security prison in Evesham, Worcestershire, after applying for bail when human rights judges in Europe ruled he could not be deported without assurances from Jordan that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

Under the terms of his release, the Home Secretary has just three months to show the government is making significant progress in securing his deportation or risk Qatada being freed from his bail conditions.

These were agreed between lawyers yesterday as a Jordanian government minister said the country was working with the UK government to give the European Court of Human Rights the assurances it needed that Qatada would not be tortured.

Qatada will only be allowed outside his London home in a prescribed area for two one-hour periods each day – and he will have to stay indoors during the school run, sources said.