Britain mired in dispute over cleric’s deportation
LONDON — Britain voiced its frustration at the legal tangle in the European Court of Human Rights preventing London from deporting a radical cleric, as it hosted talks on taming the court’s powers.
Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to continue efforts to remove Abu Qatada to Jordan, despite the process being thrown into doubt by the Islamist’s last-minute and apparently unexpected appeal to the Strasbourg court.
The opposition Labor Party called the situation a “farce.”
It said the government was presiding over “confusion and chaos,” while doubts over Abu Qatada’s future increased the likelihood that he would be released from jail until all the issues shall have beenresolved.
Deportation
In a rowdy session at the lower House of Commons, Home Secretary Theresa May said she still believed he could be deported.
“We’ve always been clear that despite the progress that we have made, the process of deporting Abu Qatada is likely to take many months,” she told the House of Commons.
“It should hardly come as a surprise to anybody that Qatada has chosen to use delaying tactics.
“The government is clear that Abu Qatada has no right to refer the case to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, since the three-month deadline to do so lapsed at midnight on Monday,” she said.
“The government has written to the European Court to make clear our case that the application should be rejected because it is out of time.”
Cameron said he wished he could take Abu Qatada to Jordan in person.