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| Abu Qatada 'would return to Jordan' | Abu Qatada 'would return to Jordan' |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Radical cleric Abu Qatada would voluntarily return to Jordan if the Jordanian government ratifies a treaty drawn up with the UK government, a court has heard. | Radical cleric Abu Qatada would voluntarily return to Jordan if the Jordanian government ratifies a treaty drawn up with the UK government, a court has heard. |
| The treaty deals with the use of evidence obtained by torture. | The treaty deals with the use of evidence obtained by torture. |
| Abu Qatada's lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald QC, told the court of the decision during a hearing to decide whether he should be released on bail. | |
| The UK government has repeatedly tried to deport the cleric to Jordan. | The UK government has repeatedly tried to deport the cleric to Jordan. |
| Abu Qatada faces terrorism charges there after being convicted in his absence in 1999 - but his lawyers claim he would not get a fair trial. | |
| He has never been charged with an offence in the UK, although the government has been trying to deport him for almost eight years, during which time he has been in and out of UK jails. | |
| The cleric is currently in prison after being arrested in March for allegedly breaching his strict bail conditions. | |
| Last year, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), which adjudicates on national security-related deportations, ruled Abu Qatada should not be removed from the UK because of fears that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him in Jordan. | Last year, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), which adjudicates on national security-related deportations, ruled Abu Qatada should not be removed from the UK because of fears that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him in Jordan. |
| The government lost an appeal against the ruling and it also failed in its bid to get the case referred to the Supreme Court. | The government lost an appeal against the ruling and it also failed in its bid to get the case referred to the Supreme Court. |
| Police raid | |
| Home Secretary Teresa May said she was subsequently applying directly to the Supreme Court for permission to challenge the ruling. | Home Secretary Teresa May said she was subsequently applying directly to the Supreme Court for permission to challenge the ruling. |
| Last month, the government signed a mutual assistance treaty with Jordan - including guarantees on fair trials. | Last month, the government signed a mutual assistance treaty with Jordan - including guarantees on fair trials. |
| Mrs May says she believes the treaty will provide the courts with assurance that Abu Qatada would face a fair trial in Jordan. | Mrs May says she believes the treaty will provide the courts with assurance that Abu Qatada would face a fair trial in Jordan. |
| The BBC's Dale Gavlak, in Amman, says that according to a Jordanian minister, the newly-revised treaty between the UK and Jordan has to go through various parliamentary bodies before it is voted on by the lower house of the Jordanian parliament. | |
| The minister of information told our correspondent that the process could take weeks or months, but that in his view it is likely to go ahead. | |
| The Siac court also heard on Friday that Abu Qatada's house was searched on 7 March. | |
| Police found 17 mobiles in his house, six of which were switched on. They also found three USB sticks, an SD card, five digital media devices and 55 recordable CDs or DVDs. | |
| Abu Qatada was arrested shortly afterwards. | |
| Mr Fitzgerald told the court on Friday that his client should be released on bail, adding: "There comes a point when detention goes on for too long." | |
| The hearing has been adjourned until 20 May, meaning Abu Qatada will remain in a high security jail until then. |