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| Britain |
| Qatada free in days after May got the date wrong |
| 2012-04-20 |
| All they have to do is remove any security they give him. Then put a million pound, wanted dead or alive, bounty on his head. That wonderful salafist beard of his would be country mile behind him trying to catch up as he bolts for Dar al Islam. Abu Qatada, the extremist Muslim cleric, could be released back into society within days because of the confusion over his deportation appeal to Europe, a senior immigration judge suggested. Mr Justice Mitting indicated that he would reconsider the preacher’s detention if his deportation was “not imminent”. Yesterday Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was faced with mounting evidence that her officials had made an error over a deadline for Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which may have allowed him to prolong his stay in Britain for up to a year. Any prospect of a lengthy legal process would greatly increase the chances of the cleric once described as Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe being granted bail, the judge suggested. Mrs May insists she was free to arrest Qatada and restart deportation proceedings on Tuesday because a deadline to appeal to the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg court passed at midnight on Monday. But Qatada’s lawyers argue that the deadline was 24 hours later, and submitted a last-ditch appeal on Tuesday night. |
| Posted by:tipper |