Theresa May to Visit Jordan for Abu Qatada Deportation Talks

Home Secretary Theresa May will head to Jordan for negotiations on deporting radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada to the country to face terror charges.

Home Office minister James Brokenshire is already engaged in talks with Jordanian authorities to ensure that Qatada will face a fair trial and no evidence obtained under torture is used against him.

"The UK and Jordan remain committed to ensuring that Abu Qatada must face justice and are pursuing all options with regard to his deportation and it is my intention to travel back to continue those negotiations shortly," May said.

Qatada, who has been called Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, was recently released from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire after having been detained for over six years while awaiting deportation.

He made a successful bail application after the European Court of Human Rights ruled it would be an injustice to deport him to Jordan without guarantees that torture-drawn evidence will not be used in any trial.

Under the bail terms, Qatada must spend 22 hours a day in his home, be electronically tagged and not use mobile phones or computers.

The conditions are due to be reviewed in three months if the home secretary has made no significant progress in his deportation case, at which point he could be set free.

There has been public outcry over Qatada's release and that he cannot be deported immediately.

He is regarded by security services as a threat and an influential extremist preacher.

Human rights campaigners say he has as much right to a fair trial as everyone else and the UK should maintain such standards, particularly regarding evidence obtained through the use of torture.