Post date: Apr 17, 2012 3:10:37 PM
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (APRIL 17, 2012) (ITN) - The radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada was arrested on Tuesday (April 17) at his London home by officers of the United Kingdom Border Agency.
Radical cleric Abu Qatada is arrested as the British government prepares to deport him to Jordan, the UK's interior ministry says.
British media reported he was expected to appear before Britain's anti-terrorism court in London later on Tuesday.
Qatada, a Jordanian, has been living under restrictive bail conditions after being freed from prison in February after a court ruled his detention was unlawful.
A spokesman for Britain's interior ministry, the Home Office, said Qatada had been told that the government intends to resume proceedings to deport him to Jordan.
Twice convicted in absentia in Jordan of involvement in terrorist plots, Britain says Abu Qatada is still a national security risk and should be deported before London hosts the Olympic Games in July and August.
The 51-year-old, whose real name is Omar Othman, has been in and out of jail since he was first detained without charge under British anti-terrorism laws in 2002.
Since his release, Abu Qatada has had to wear an electronic tag to allow the police to keep track of him and spend 22 hours a day at his family home. He is also banned from using the Internet and mobile phones.
Britain says videotapes of his sermons were found in a German apartment used by three of the people who carried out al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in February that his detention without charge was unlawful and that Britain must not deport him to Jordan.
Seven European judges ruled that Qatada would not receive a fair trial in Jordan because evidence against him may have been obtained using torture.
British media reported on Tuesday that the government was working to secure a deal with Jordan that would give guarantees that torture evidence would not be used in legal proceedings.