Home Secretary in Jordan for Abu Qatada talks

Theresa May is expected to remain in the country until Wednesday, a Home Office spokeswoman said.

Qatada, described by a judge as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe, has been released from jail under a 22-hour curfew while the Government seeks assurances that evidence gained through torture would not be used in any trial against him if he were sent back.

The 51-year-old cleric could be freed from his bail terms in just three months if Mrs May fails to show significant progress is being made in the talks.

Her visit comes after she said Security Minister James Brokenshire led “useful discussions with the Jordanian authorities” last month.

“The UK and Jordan remain committed to ensuring that Abu Qatada must face justice and are pursuing all options with regard to his deportation and it is my intention to travel back to continue those negotiations,” Mrs May said after Mr Brokenshire returned to the UK.

Qatada was released from Long Lartin high-security jail in Evesham, Worcestershire, on February 13 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.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled that sending Qatada back without such assurances would be a “flagrant denial of justice”.

Mr Justice Mitting, chairman of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, then ruled that Qatada should be bailed after six and a half years in custody and gave the Home Secretary three months to show significant progress had been made in the talks or risk Qatada being freed without conditions.

Since 2001, when fears of the domestic terror threat rose in the aftermath of the attacks, he has challenged, and ultimately thwarted, every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him.