Britain Bars Radical's Return

Britain on Friday barred radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri from returning to the country that was his home for the past 20 years, saying his presence was no longer "conducive to the public good."

The decision came as the country's top legal official defended plans to deport another radical Muslim cleric and nine other foreigners suspected of posing a threat to national security.

Jordan said Friday it would ask Britain next week to extradite one of those detained, cleric Omar Mahmoud Othman Abu Omar, also known as Abu Qatada. Spanish officials have described him as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe."

Bakri, 45, left Britain on Saturday, one day after Prime Minister Tony Blair proposed tough new anti-terrorism measures including the deportation of extremist Islamic clerics who preach hate. Bakri was arrested in Lebanon on Thursday, but released Friday.

Judge Said Mirza told The Associated Press that he ordered Bakri's release after it appeared "that he has not committed any crime and there are no criminal records against him." Mirza added Bakri was a free man, but it is not known where he will go now.

Bakri, who has dual Syrian and Lebanese citizenship, had come under increasing pressure from the British government for his hardline rhetoric after last month's transit bombings.

He has called the Sept. 11 hijackers "the Magnificent 19," reports CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth, and has visions of an Islamic state.

"Indeed, they know I would like to see the Islamic flag over the White House," Bakri has said.

He had insisted that he planned to return to north London, where his wife and children live, after his "vacation."
A close associate of Bakri said the cleric will not appeal the decision to bar him. Asked if Bakri would challenge Britain's decision, Anjem Choudary told The Associated Press: "No. A Muslim is not allowed to put himself in a position to be arrested and imprisoned and prevented from preaching."

Home Secretary Charles Clarke had written to Bakri to inform him he would not be allowed back into Britain. The cleric has 14 days to appeal.

"The Home Secretary has issued an order revoking Omar Bakri Mohammed's indefinite leave to remain and to exclude him from the U.K. and the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good," the Home Office said in a statement.

Bakri founded the now-disbanded radical Islamic group al-Muhajiroun, which came under scrutiny in Britain, particularly after some of its members praised the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

A spokesman for Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said Thursday prosecutors were looking at Bakri's recent remarks to assess whether he could be charged with solicitation of murder or incitement to withhold information known to be of use to police.

Meanwhile Britain's plans to deport the 10 foreigners have sparked fears for their safety in their destination countries and criticism by civil liberties advocates at home.

"If people are dangerous terrorists, the best thing for British and world security is that they are prosecuted, convicted and put in prison," Shami Chakrabarti of Liberty told CBS News. "Shuffling people off around the world doesn't necessarily make us safer."

Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer said it was necessary to balance the risk of a deportee being mistreated against the threat they pose to Britain. He added that the government may seek new human rights legislation to make the deportations easier. The measure would be among a raft of tough new anti-terrorism laws announced in the wake of the July bombings.

"The deportee has got rights, but so have the people of this country," Falconer told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "If they are threatened in terms of national security, that is something that the government has got to protect them against as much as possible."

As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to countries where they may face torture of mistreatment. The government has been trying to sign agreements guaranteeing humane treatment of deportees with 10 countries, including Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia. The first such memorandum of understanding was signed with Jordan on Wednesday.
The Home Office did not identify the detainees. But a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that Abu Qatada, a Palestinian cleric who carries a Jordanian passport, was among them.

A statement from Abu Qatada's lawyer said the detainees were "primarily Algerians."

The detentions and are another indication of the dramatic impact of last month's bombings in a country until recently regarded as something of a safe haven for radicals.

"The circumstances of our national security have changed, it is vital that we act against those who threaten it," Home Secretary Clarke said.

Abu Qatada was granted political asylum in Britain in 1993. He has been in jail or under close supervision here since 2002, but now faces deportation to Jordan where authorities convicted him in absentia in 1998 and again in 2000 for involvement in a series of explosions and terror plots.

British authorities believe Abu Qatada inspired the lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta and he is suspected of having links with radical groups across Europe.

Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yirfas said his country would request Abu Qatada's extradition next week.

The Home Office said the detainees had five working days to appeal deportation — a process that could drag on for months. A spokeswoman insisted they would not be deported until the British government gained assurances from the destination countries that they will not be treated inhumanely.

Civil rights campaigners and the U.N. special envoy on torture, Manfred Nowak, have warned, however, that such assurances carry no weight in international law and would not sufficiently protect the deportees.

"The assurances of known torturers, many of whom deny the use of torture even when it is widely documented, are not worth the paper they are written on," said Mike Blakemore, a spokesman for Amnesty International.