EU court: UK can't deport radical cleric

LONDON - A European court has ruled that Muslim cleric Abu Qatada cannot be deported from Britain to Jordan.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, says Abu Qatada should not be sent back to Jordan because there is a substantial risk that evidence obtained by torture might be used against him in court there.

Abu Qatada is in prison in Britain. He was once called a key operative for al Qaeda with close ties to the late Osama bin Laden.

U.K. Judge Frees Radical Preacher On Bail

The court ruled Tuesday that sending Abu Qatada back to Jordan would be a "flagrant denial" of justice.

Abu Qatada is a Palestinian-Jordanian who arrived in Britain in 1993.