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An extremist Muslim cleric regarded as "Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador in Europe" must be released on bail, a judge ruled today. Abu Qatada, 48, who won his legal fight against deportation to Jordan last month, will be freed from prison under strict bail conditions amounting to 22-hour house arrest despite the fact that he is still deemed to be a threat to national security. The cleric applied to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) for bail on the grounds that it was inhumane to detain him indefinitely if there was no prospect of his being deported. The order to...

A former teacher at an Islamic school, who alleged that it taught an offensive and racist view of non-Muslims, has been awarded £70,000 by an employment tribunal after winning his case for unfair dismissal. Colin Cook told the tribunal in Watford that pupils were taught from Arabic books that likened Jews and Christians to “monkeys” and “pigs” at The King Fahad Academy, which is funded and run by the Saudi Arabian Government. The tribunal ruled that Mr Cook, a British Muslim, was unfairly dismissed from his £36,000-a-year post at the school in Acton, West London, in December 2006 after blowing...

Bin Laden's 'right-hand man' set for life on British benefits after judges rule deportation would breach his human rights Terror suspect Abu Qatada cannot be deported to Jordan because he risks not getting a fair trial, judges ruled today. They overturned a decision by a special panel last year that the extremist cleric, who is known as Osama bin Laden's “right-hand man” in Europe, could be sent to his home country. The Home Office may even have to free Qatada if the Law Lords and European judges uphold the decision of the Court of Appeal and he cannot be brought...

The secret war On the North-West Frontier, soldiers are trying to tighten the noose around bin Laden's forces. But in Europe and America, there is no clear enemy to fight - yet every expert knows that a terrorist atrocity is coming Mark Townsend in Tangier, John Hooper in Madrid, Greg Bearup in Peshawar, Paul Harris in Washington, Peter Beaumont in Baghdad, Antony Barnett, Martin Bright, Jason Burke and Nick Pelham in London Sunday March 21, 2004 The Observer There were shadows in the rocks. As the 12 US Special Forces soldiers arrived at a remote mountain region in eastern Afghanistan...

Extremist cleric's release from UK prison to come 6 months after hostage's release. In exchange for the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, Britain told the Hamas terror group through mediators it would free from jail an extremist sheik accused of serving as al-Qaida's spiritual adviser in Europe, Palestinian sources involved in the negotiations claimed to WND. The sheik, Abu Qatada, is accused among other things of advising 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui and attempted shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Qatada's sermons were found among the possessions of 9/11 operational leader Mohamed Atta. The Palestinian sources involved in the Johnston negotiations claimed the...

Terrorist ten are set free Danger ... Abu Qatada         By GEORGE PASCOE-WATSON Deputy Political EditorTHE Human Rights Act was blamed last night for the release of ten “highly dangerous” terror suspects. Abu Qatada — Osama Bin Laden’s top European lieutenant — will be freed with the others by tonight. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair warned that the men’s release was “a grave threat” to national security. But Home Secretary Charles Clarke is powerless to keep them caged — thanks to the Human Rights Act. Law Lords ruled last year that Britain’s detention of terror...

An underground film showing the slaughter of Algerian soldiers is being used as a recruitment tool for British Islamic radicals The trail runs from a wet corner of a west London street to the dusty mountains of eastern Algeria, from a garage on the Thames to the Mediterranean, from a mosque off north London's Seven Sisters Road to Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan. In one direction the trail is a conduit for volunteers and money - both heading for Islamist rebels fighting a brutal war against Algeria's government. In the other direction flow political refugees, communiqués boasting of ...

BERLIN (AP) - A German court Tuesday ordered the release of an Iraqi man suspected of belonging to an Islamic terrorist cell planning attacks in Germany. Thaer M., 28, was released after the Federal Court of Justice lifted an arrest warrant, attorney Andreas Schwarzer said in a statement. He did not provide further details. The court confirmed the warrant was lifted. Four of the 13 other men detained at the same time were freed shortly after being picked up for lack of evidence. Federal prosecutors were not immediately available for comment. It was unclear whether any other suspects were released...

British police are reported to be holding an Islamic radical described as Osama bin Laden's ambassador in Europe. Abu Qatada is said to have been seized in an armed raid at a London council house. The cleric is accused by police in eight countries of being a key figure in bin Laden's al Qaida network. He is being held in Belmarsh Prison in south east London, according to The Times. Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced that a suspected terrorist is being held, but refused to identify any further details. Home Office officials are refusing to confirm or deny claims...

Radical cleric 'inspired September 11 hijacker' By Christopher Walker THE radical cleric Abu Qatada was named by the Government yesterday as the most dangerous Islamic preacher in Britain. Abu Qatada, who has been described as Osama bin Laden’s spiritual ambassador in Europe, was also “an inspiration” for terrorists, including the lead hijacker behind the September 11 attacks on the United States. The claim was contained in evidence revealed in the appeal by three foreign terrorist suspects against their detention without charge or trial under the Anti- Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. In a weighty dossier submitted to the Special...

<p>In November, Spain indicted eight men connected to the al Qaeda terrorist network. Judge Baltasar Garzon said the men were "directly linked to the preparation and the carrying out of the attacks perpetrated by suicide pilots on September 11." The indictment described one Abu Qutadah of London as "the supreme leader at the European level of the mujahideen."</p>

...Worries of an imminent attack are particularly acute in Italy. A recent poll by the daily Corriere della Sera found that more than 80% of Italians believe that terrorists could strike within months. Since the London attacks, Rome has granted to the military search powers that previously were reserved for police. It has broadened law enforcement's scope by doubling, to 24 hours, the amount of time suspects can be detained and by making telephone and Internet records more accessible to investigators, among other measures. Police will spend more time carrying out raids against terror suspects--authorities made 200-plus raids in one...

Britain's release of insurgent scares Algerians, MI5 agent Monday, February 7, 2005 Britain's plans to release a leading Islamic insurgent with ties to Al Qaida after a court ruled anti-terror laws violated human rights.http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/05/front2453408.311111111.html Algerian officials said the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to free Abu Qatada after nearly four years in prison. Abu Qatada is regarded as being aligned with Al Qaida. Officials said Abu Qatada was suspected of being Osama Bin Laden's envoy in Britain during the 1990s. The planned release of Abu Qatada has alarmed Algerians in Britain as well as in Europe. This has...

London al Qaeda link By Patrick Sawer and Hugh Dougherty, Evening Standard 15 March 2004 A London man is to be questioned over suspicions that he played a key role in the Madrid bombings. Abu Qatada is described as Osama bin Laden's "ambassador" in Europe and is regarded as one of the most dangerous Islamic terrorist leaders being held in Britain. He is said to be connected to one of the men held over the Spanish train bombings which left 200 dead. Anti-terror police will quiz the cleric, who is being held at Belmarsh prison, about his links with that...

<p>Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.</p> <p>A former Canadian resident is a key commander and ideologue with Ansar al-Islam, a group the United States considers to be the terrorist link between Al Qaeda and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, says a captured Ansar member.</p> <p>Ali and another Ansar prisoner interviewed by the Star, 20-year-old Didar Khaled Khedr, said two former Iraqi intelligence agents are among Ansar's leaders - Abu Zurbeh and Abu Wahil.</p>

We Ignore 'Trinity of Terror' at Our Peril By Tom Knowlton While we have brought the full weight of American military might against the operational forces of Islamic terrorism, the spiritual architects of Islamic extremism continue unimpeded to recruit, train and finance a new generation of terrorists. The most egregious of these "spiritual leaders" are the infamous "Trinity of Terror" residing in London, England; Abu Qatada, Omar Bakri Muhammad, and Abu Hamza al-Masri. Abu Qatada, a Palestinian refuge living in London, has been linked to the planning and funding of terrorism in Jordan, France, Spain and Italy. European counter-terrorism and...

Qatada ... went on run in people carrier ARMED anti-terror detectives have arrested the man described as Osama bin Laden’s “ambassador to Europe”. Hardline cleric Abu Qatada was seized in a raid on a London flat.The 42-year-old has been accused by eight countries of being a pivotal figure in the al-Qa’ida network. He was also dubbed “Britain’s most wanted man” following the September 11 strikes.But last month French security accused MI5 of “hiding” Qatada and his family in a safe house in northern England.He had not been seen for ten months since he went on the run from his...

The chemicals were stored in vats in the basement of an Egyptian restaurant in downtown Brussels. The suicide bomber, a former soccer player who had fallen into drug use and petty crime, had been selected. The target, the American Embassy in Paris, had been scouted. All that remained was the signal from Osama bin Laden's operatives in Afghanistan to strike. The nod was to come from a Frenchman of Algerian origin who was on his way back from training in Afghanistan. But he was arrested in transit, and he talked, spilling to French interrogators details of what could have been ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A senior al Qaeda figure believed to control European operatives is being held in a safe house by British intelligence, Time magazine reported on Sunday, quoting unnamed European intelligence officials.Abu Qatada, sought by Jordan for terror-related crimes, has been missing since mid-December after British authorities confiscated his passport, froze his assets and ordered him confined to his London home, Time said in its latest edition.But, according to Time sources Qatada, who they say is described by some justice officials as the spiritual leader and possible puppet master of al Qaeda's European networks, is being kept...