Al-Qaeda to UK: You have jihad terror leader, and you better keep him

Living a charmed life

Al-Qaeda makes its case for unrestricted immigration. "Al-Qaeda warns U.K. not to deport radical cleric," from AP, April 10 

CAIRO (AP) – Al-Qaeda warned Britain on Tuesday not to deport to Jordan a radical Islamist preacher considered a leading figure in the terror network.

A statement from the organization posted on a militant website said Abu Qatada's expulsion would open "an unnecessary door to evil that will harm (Britain) and its subjects."

Britain has been trying for years to deport the Palestinian-Jordanian Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman. He has been described in both Spanish and British courts as a leading al-Qaeda figure in Europe and a threat to national security....

But the European Court of Human Rights ruled in January that Abu Qatada cannot be sent back to Jordan because of a risk that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him if he is put on trial there.

The al-Qaeda statement also invoked the possibility of torture in Jordan. "To deport him to a country known by everyone for its crimes, is something that we never accept and will not pass without (someone) being held accountable."

Jordan says it will guarantee Abu Qatada a fair trial.

Al-Qaeda said the British government had committed a crime by unjustly jailing Abu Qatada for many years, even though, it said, he only "preached in words."

The group denies that Abu Qatada had any ties to it, but it said it was defending him because "the allegiance of a Muslim to his Muslim brother is above all organizational or ideological considerations."

It advised the British government "to deal with the issue with wisdom and reason far from recklessness and blind rush so that it will not regret it when it is too late."

It suggested that the preacher be allowed to go to an "Arab Spring country." Elections held in the aftermath of the pro-democracy uprisings that have swept the Middle East in the past year have resulted in Islamist-dominated parliaments in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

But surely those new bastions of Western-style democracy and pluralism wouldn't want him, now, would they?