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<strong><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458368" target="_blank">Maan News Agency </a>| February 6, 2012</strong><br />
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<p>LONDON (Reuters) &#8212; A radical cleric born in Bethlehem was granted bail by a British court on Monday, despite attempts by the UK Home Office to keep him in prison.</p>
<p>Abu Qatada, a Jordanian citizen once described as &#8220;Osama bin Laden&#8217;s right-hand man in Europe,&#8221; is expected to be released shortly into a tightly controlled form of house arrest after the decision by a specialist court, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.</p>
<p>He made his application for bail after winning an appeal in a European court last month to stop Britain from deporting him to Jordan to stand trial on terrorism charges.</p>
<p>Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, has been fighting attempts to deport him for six years and his case has become a key test of how Britain treats foreign suspects accused of having links with groups such as al-Qaida.</p>
<p>A court in Jordan has found Qatada guilty in his absence of involvement in two bomb plots and a senior British judge has described him as a &#8220;truly dangerous&#8221; supporter of radical Islamist groups.</p>
<p>Qatada, who was born in 1960 near Bethlehem, then under Jordanian control and now under Israeli occupation, is being held in Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, central England.</p>
<p>Never formally charged with an offense, he has been in and out of custody and been held under a form of house arrest since he was first detained under anti-terrorism laws in 2002.</p>
<p>The European Court of Human Rights ruled in January that Britain could not deport him as he would not receive a fair trial in Jordan because evidence against him might have been obtained by torture.</p>
<p>Incensed by that decision, Prime Minister David Cameron called for a major overhaul of the Strasbourg court.</p>
<p>A Home Office spokesperson said after Monday&#8217;s bail ruling: &#8220;Qatada should remain in detention, our view has not changed. That is the argument we made to the court today and we disagree with its decision.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a dangerous man who we believe poses a real threat to our security and who has not changed in his views or attitude to the UK.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is not the end of the road and we are continuing to consider our legal options in response to the European Court&#8217;s ruling.&#8221;</p>
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