Government Very Pleased As Abu Qatada Deported
Abu Qatada was deported from the UK following a long legal battle last July. IBTimes UK

The radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada has been found not guilty of terrorism offences in a court in Jordan.

Qatada, who fought for years not to be extradited from the UK to face the charges, was cleared of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism relating to an alleged plot to commit a series of bomb attacks in Jordan in 1998.

Qatada fled to the UK with his wife and family in 1993 using a forged passport.

He was granted asylum in the UK in 1994 but MI5 increasingly saw him as a national security threat, due to his hardened views on jihad.

The preacher still faces charges that he conspired to commit a separate attack on tourists during Jordan's New Year celebrations in 2000. The verdict for this charge is expected to arrive in September.

Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, was finally deported from the UK after an eight year legal battle last July. He argued he would not face a fair trial in Jordan as evidence used against him would have been obtained via tortured co-defendants.

He was convicted in his absence in 1999 by a Jordanian military court for conspiracy to carry out attacks, but now faces a retrial over the allegations because evidence from two of his co-defendants - Al-Hamasher and Abu Hawsher - was reportedly obtained through torture.

Jordanian authorities signed a treaty with the UK banning the use of evidence obtained via torture from trials in Jordan, which was seen as the last hurdle in finally deporting Qatada from the UK.

He denies all the charges against him.