Confident minister ‘closer to Abu Qatada’s deportation’

Home Secretary Theresa May insisted yesterday she was “confident” the government was “closer to the deportation of Abu Qatada than we were two days ago” after the Jordanian terror suspect lost his attempt to make a final appeal to Europe’s human rights judges.

Home Secretary Theresa May insisted yesterday she was “confident” the government was “closer to the deportation of Abu Qatada than we were two days ago” after the Jordanian terror suspect lost his attempt to make a final appeal to Europe’s human rights judges.

The radical cleric’s lawyers have applied for him to be released on bail as it looked likely that deportation proceedings will still take many months.

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While they rejected the case, the panel of five judges also ruled that Qatada’s appeal on the night of 17 April was within the court’s deadline, contradicting Mrs May’s assertion the three-month appeal deadline from the court’s original decision on 17 January expired on the night of 16 April.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called on Mrs May to “now accept that she got it wrong when she told the House of Commons 12 times that the date for the deadline of his appeal was the Monday night rather than the Tuesday night”.

Mrs May said she welcomed the court’s decision to refuse the application for referral by Abu Qatada, adding she was “taking advice” on the options available to the government and would announce its position in “due course”.

She said: “I am confident that we are today closer to the deportation of Abu Qatada than we were two days ago.”