LONDON: Britain has signed a legal treaty with Jordan giving guarantees that terror suspect Abu Qatada would face a fair trial if deported, Home Secretary Theresa May said yesterday.
May made the announcement in Parliament a day after the Court of Appeal in London refused her permission to challenge its ruling that the radical preacher cannot be sent back due to rights concerns.
May said that the mutual legal assistance treaty would help end the long saga of Abu Qatada, who has been described by prosecutors as a key Al-Qaeda operative in Europe.
Successive British governments have tried since 2001 to remove the cleric, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman. He was convicted in absentia in Jordan over terror plots in 1999 and 2000.
British and European courts have blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him at a new trial in Jordan. The new treaty explicitly bans the use of evidence "where there are serious and credible allegations that a statement from a person has been obtained by torture or ill-treatment."
It must be ratified by both countries before coming into force.
May said the government also would ask Britain's Supreme Court to rule on the case. The Court of Appeal on Tuesday denied May's ministry permission to go to the top court, but May said she would ask the Supreme Court directly.
She warned that the issue would not be resolved quickly.
"It will not mean Qatada will be on a plane to Jordan within days," May told lawmakers in the House of Commons. "That legal process may well take many months."
She also said the government would consider changing Britain's human rights laws to make it easier to deport terrorist suspects.
"It is absurd for the deportation of a suspected foreign terrorist to take so many years and cost the taxpayer so much money," May said.
"The agreement also includes a number of fair trial guarantees... I believe these guarantees will provide the courts with the assurance that Qatada will not face evidence that might have been obtained by torture in a retrial in Jordan."
May said she believed the new treaty would give the British government "every chance of succeeding" in its years-long battle to deport Abu Qatada.
Both countries had yet to ratify the treaty and it was due to go before the Jordanian Parliament shortly, May said.
"I believe that the treaty we have agreed with Jordan, once ratified by both parliaments, will finally make possible the deportation of Abu Qatada," she said.
There was no immediate reaction from Amman.
May reiterated that the British government would now apply directly to the Supreme Court to hear their appeal, despite the Court of Appeal's refusal to deal with the case.
A Spanish judge once branded him the right-hand man in Europe of Osama Bin Laden, although Abu Qatada denies ever meeting the late Al-Qaeda leader.
The preacher was convicted in Jordan of terrorism charges in his absence, and is likely to face a retrial if he is returned.
But the European Court of Human Rights last year blocked his deportation over fears that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him in the new trial.
The government has repeatedly sought fresh assurances from Jordan about his treatment, but a Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) judge in November ruled again that he could not be sent back, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal last month.
UK, Jordan sign pact in bid to remove Abu Qatada
UK, Jordan sign pact in bid to remove Abu Qatada
Egypt’s El-Sisi congratulates Putin on election win
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi congratulated Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday on his landslide re-election, his spokesman said.
El-Sisi “extended his sincere congratulations” to Putin, whose election for a fifth term with 87.28 percent of the vote “reflects the confidence of the Russian people,” according to the presidency’s statement.
El-Sisi “wished him success and the Russian people further progress and prosperity.”
Putin had run effectively unchallenged in the election, with only loyalist candidates allowed on the ballot in a process that Washington dismissed as “incredibly undemocratic.”
El-Sisi had himself won a third term with 89.6 percent of the vote in a December election in which he ran against a small field of relative unknowns.
Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Cairo has maintained close ties with Putin, despite calls by Western allies to stand with Ukraine.
Egypt has contented itself with calls for peace as it has prioritized its own economic interests.
The Arab world’s most populous country has long been heavily dependent on food imports, most of which came from Russia or Ukraine before the war.
Their disruption by the conflict sent prices soaring in a massive blow to the Egyptian economy that has left Cairo in a delicate balancing act.
In an online ceremony in January, El-Sisi and Putin hailed a “new phase” in the countries’ relations as they launched construction of a fourth generating unit at Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, Al-Dabaa, built by Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom.
Tunisia-Libya border crossing closed due to clashes
- Libya’s interior ministry said “outlaws” had attacked the border, which sees Libyans often going to Tunisia for medical treatment
TUNIS: Tunisia and Libya have closed a major border crossing at Ras Jdir due to armed clashes, Tunisian state TV and Libyan authorities said.
Libya’s interior ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that “outlaws” had attacked the border, which sees a large flow of Libyans often going to Tunisia for medical treatment and trucks with goods coming in the opposite direction.
“This action carried out by these outlaw groups will not be tolerated, and legal measures and the most severe penalties will be taken against those involved,” the Tripoli-based ministry said, without giving further details.
Libya has had little peace since a 2011 uprising and is split between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing each area.
Unverified footage on social media showed a burning vehicle at Ras Jdir and people running, with the sound of gunfire.
The ministry said on Sunday it had deployed security forces at the border to combat smuggling and insecurity.
Tunisia’s Tataouine Radio said late on Monday that Tunisia closed the crossing for the safety of citizens going to Libya.
Qatar: An Israeli operation in Rafah will result in ‘atrocities’ that have not been seen
DOHA: An Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah would result in major destruction and “atrocities” that have not been seen in the conflict, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday.
Qatar is cautiously optimistic about the Gaza ceasefire talks, he added during a press conference in Doha.
UN reports a 35 percent increase in people affected by violence in South Sudan
- There is a 35 percent increase in the number of victims reported from the previous quarter
- Violence caused by ethnic tensions and disputes over resources such as land has increased in various parts of the country
The UN Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, documented 233 incidents of violence affecting 862 people. Of that, 406 were killed, 293 were injured, 100 were abducted and 63 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence, it said in a report released Monday.
It was a 35 percent increase in the number of victims reported from the previous quarter.
South Sudan is to hold elections later this year, the first since a 2018 peace deal between President Salva Kiir and his former rival, Riek Machar, that ended a five-year conflict that killed hundreds of thousands.
Violence caused by ethnic tensions and disputes over resources such as land has increased in various parts of the country in recent months, particularly in the oil-rich region of Abyei.
The head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, said it is “doing all it can to prevent violence and build peace in the affected areas” and urged the South Sudan government to intervene and “resolve underlying grievances and build peace.”
It said it has conducted at least 10,000 peacekeeping patrols by land, air and boat over the past year.
South Sudan, one of the world’s youngest nations, also suffers from drought and flooding, making living conditions difficult for residents.
The World Food Program in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighboring Sudan.
Israel hits Hezbollah arms depots in Syria: war monitor
- Strikes have increased since Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, began on October 7
BEIRUT: Israeli raids hit warehouses storing weapons for the Lebanese Hezbollah group in Syria Tuesday, a war monitor said, as a Syrian military source said air defenses had intercepted several missiles.
Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah as well as Syrian army positions.
The strikes have increased since Israel’s war with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally, began on October 7.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest strikes near the capital Damascus Tuesday had destroyed weapons and ammunition, causing secondary explosions and fires.
A military source quoted by Syrian state media said Israeli “air aggression” had targeted several military positions near Damascus.
“Our air defenses took action and shot down several missiles,” the source added.
The Britain-based Observatory said it was the second such strike in two days, coming after raids on Sunday hit another Hezbollah weapons depot and a separate site near Damascus.
Earlier this month, an Israeli strike reportedly killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard and two other people in Banias on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
The Israeli army said last week it had hit about 4,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Syria over the past five months.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence in Syria.