Britain frees radical cleric Abu Qatada

[TheMercenary]

(Reuters) - A radical cleric once described as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" was freed from a British prison to live under virtual house arrest on Monday after a court ruled that his detention without trial was unlawful.

The Jordanian preacher known as Abu Qatada must wear an electronic tag to allow the police to keep track of him, spend 22 hours a day at his family home and is banned from using the Internet and mobile phones.

What about the other 2 hours? Typo? Or does he get to run Down to the internet cafe?

[Rhianne]

Yes, of course he will, he's a member of this place and after being locked away for the past three years he must be desperate to see how his entry in the Death Pool competition is doing.

[HungLikeJesus]

Free radicals aren't as bad for you as once thought.

[wolf]

They weren't using those Houses of Parliament much, anyway ... modern urban renewal, right?

[infinite monkey]

That's one of the best songs from The Lion King


Abu Qatada! What a wonderful phrase
Abu Qatada! Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries for the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy

[Happy Monkey]

Hm. So detention without trial is unlawful, but house arrest with electronic tagging without trial is OK?

[TheMercenary]

Well they do give him 2 hours off a day. They just need to send him back to Jordan.

[wolf]

I suspect that there are also about 30 MI-5 guys installed as residents and shopkeepers in his neighborhood.

[TheMercenary]

We can only hope.

[classicman]

Ahead of his release, the Home Office interior ministry said it would "exhaust all avenues" to ensure his extradition to Jordan, where he was convicted in his absence of involvement in terror attacks in 1998.

"Everyone is united in wanting this man deported," a Home Office spokeswoman told AFP.

"This government will exhaust all avenues open to get Qatada on a plane.

"If we do so, we will continue to negotiate with the Jordanians to see what assurances we can be given about the evidence used against Qatada in their court."

[TheMercenary]

Then again they could just show up at his house in black hoods throw his ass in a van, drive him to the airport and send him on his way.

Then just say they don't know what happened to him.

I like that idea better.

[Sundae]

Merc? Tolerance?
Play nice.

It stretches my liberal credentials not to want him slung onto the next plane home, torture or not.
But I have to hold true. This cannot be the thin end of the wedge.

Although I admit, a capering part of me is singing, "Didn't like Western values? Ha ha ha, off you go back home then!"

But hey.
Martin McGuinness is now the Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland, so I guess I failed terrorist rehab 101.

[Aliantha]

I don't know what's wrong with me these days, but I'm pretty much with Merc on this one. If you deliberately go to a country with different values and then complain about it to the point of terrorism or the threat there of, then that country has every right to chuck you out. IMO

Yes I know that's very unliberal of me to say, but honestly, if you don't like the law of the land, get the fuck out!

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I don't know what's wrong with me these days, but I'm pretty much with Merc on this one. If you deliberately go to a country with different values and then complain about it to the point of terrorism or the threat there of, then that country has every right to chuck you out. IMO

Yes I know that's very unliberal of me to say, but honestly, if you don't like the law of the land, get the fuck out!

Oh, and don't be embarrassed to agree with me. We should really start to love each other more now that we are going station some 3000 Marines on your coast. Tell the locals to watch out for their women.

[DanaC]

Kicking him out isn't the problem. I think most of us would like him to fuck off back to Jordon if our culture is so goddamned objectionable to him.

The very values he seems to despise are what currently sits between him and a flight home.

But they are our values. Knowingly sending him home to face torture would be a betrayal of those values. I don't think he is worth that betrayal.

Not that we as a nation dont send people back to places where they face torture and oppression. We do...as long as we don't know that's what they face.

Qatada is in the rather fortunate position of being a very public case.

@Infi: I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets that song in my head when I hear the name ;p