UK foiled in effort to deport radical cleric

LONDON -- A radical Muslim cleric thwarted another effort by Britain to have him deported to Jordan after a court accepted arguments yesterday that he would face testimony obtained by torture.

Britain wants to send Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he was convicted in absentia for terror plots in 1999 and 2000. Successive governments have tried since 2001 to remove the cleric, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman.

But the man described by prosecutors as a key al-Qaida operative in Europe, with ties to the late Osama bin Laden, has successfully fought deportation in British and European courts, and it's not over yet. The government pledged to fight on after the loss in the Court of Appeal.

"This is not the end of the road, and the government remains determined to deport Abu Qatada," the Home Office said. "We will consider this judgment carefully and plan to seek leave to appeal." Britain said it would try to work with Jordan's government to try to address the concerns -- to seek some sort of guarantee that evidence obtained by torture not be used.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission upheld his challenge to Britain's decision to send him to Jordan and agreed there was a real risk that evidence obtained from torture would be used. That decision came despite the government's insistence that it has won assurances from Jordan over how Abu Qatada's case would be handled.

Britain accuses the cleric of links with Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the United States over the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and with shoe bomber Richard Reid. Recordings of his sermons were found in an apartment used by some of the 9/11 hijackers. -- AP