Terror suspects go free

[emad]

London Evening Standard
11 March 2005

Six foreign terror suspects were today freed on conditional bail from Belmarsh prison after being detained for up to three years, Home Office sources said

The six were Abu Qatada - described by one British judge as a "truly dangerous individual" - and those known only as E, H, K, P and Q.

The men were thought to have left custody under the same strict conditions imposed on another detainee, named A, who walked free last night after a ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac).

Scotland Yard chief Sir Ian Blair has warned that every one of them remains "a grave threat to national security".

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/17211476?source=PA&ct=5

[slackmaster]

1. Justice delayed is justice denied

The "war on terror" has worn out its credibility as a rationalization for suspending habeas corpus. Looks like the UK is ahead of the US in waking up to that reality.

A foreigner who is "truly dangerous" to your country should either be deported or charged with a crime.

[emad]

2. Brits tried internment without trial in Northern Ireland. That failed.

Poodle now desperate because Condoleezza Rice has piled on the pressure for this legislation to go through Parliament.

Mostly because the Enron trial date is getting uncomfortably close.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Deporting them isn't a option

becuase no country wants them, except their original ones which are expected to imprison and torture them.

I think the majority, if not all of them, were given leave to remain in the UK before they were locked up. So I think that means we have to accept them staying; there's nothing stopping permanent surveillance of them, of course.

[emad]

4. released detainees taken to Colnbrook detention centre: BBC breaking

Update:
Terror accused moved out of jail

Five foreign terror suspects detained without charge have been moved from Belmarsh high security prison.

The men, Abu Qatada, and four others known only as E, H, K and Q were taken to Colnbrook secure immigration centre in west London.

Bail conditions for the five are being discussed by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac).

Siac judges earlier released a sixth suspect, A, and are considering bail terms for a seventh, known as P.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4338849.stm

[paulthompson]

5. In my opinion, Qatada has been an informant all along

...so it makes perfect sense that they found a way to release him. The only reason they arrested him in the first place was because the pressure was on, esp. from other countries that wanted to try him. As if it wasn't obvious enough, a recent article on the release notes Qatada was living only a couple blocks from MI6 headquarters after 9/11 (the safe house mentioned below). Here's my timeline entry on him (note the second to last sentence):

Early December 2001: Al-Qaeda “Puppet Master” Disappears in Britain
Al-Qaeda leader Abu Qatada disappears, despite being under surveillance in Britain. He has been “described by some justice officials as the spiritual leader and possible puppet master of al-Qaeda’s European networks.” (TIME, 7/7/02) Qatada had already been sentenced to death in abstentia in Jordan, and is wanted at the time by the U.S., Spain, France, and Algeria as well. (GUARDIAN, 2/14/02) In October 2001, the media had strongly suggested that Qatada would soon be arrested for his known roles in al-Qaeda plots, but no such arrest occurred. (LONDON TIMES, 10/21/01) In November, while Qatada was still living openly in Britain, a Spanish judge expressed disbelief that Qatada hadn’t been arrested already, as he has previously been connected to a Spanish al-Qaeda cell that may have met with Mohamed Atta in July 2001. (OBSERVER, 11/25/01) Time magazine will later claim that just before new anti-terrorism laws go into effect in Britain, Abu Qatada and his family are secretly moved to a safe house by the British government, where he is lodged, fed, and clothed by the government. “The deal is that Abu Qatada is deprived of contact with extremists in London and Europe but can’t be arrested or expelled because no one officially knows where he is,” says a source, whose claims were corroborated by French authorities. The British reportedly do this to avoid a “hot potato” trial. (TIME, 7/7/02) A British official rejects these assertions: “We wouldn’t give an awful lot of credence (to the story).” (GUARDIAN, 7/8/02) Some French officials tell the press that Qatada was allowed to disappear because he is actually a British intelligence agent. (OBSERVER, 2/24/02 (B)) Qatada is later arrested in London on October 23, 2002, but there still has not been any signs of a trial, as of mid-2004. (LONDON TIMES, 10/25/02)

It'll be interesting what they do with him, because if they really set him free, some other country like France could snap him up and I doubt the British would want that.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

6. MI5 courted terror suspect

He's known as al Qaeda's ambassador in Europe - and he's wanted around the world.

But tonight Channel Four news can reveal that MI5 tried to recruit the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to inform on his fellow extremists.

The revelation comes in a judgement by the Special Immgration Appeals Tribunal: which ruled in January that Qatada should continue to be detained without trial in Belmarsh high security jail. You can read the document here: http://www.channel4.com/news/ftp_images2/2004/03/week_4/23_document.pdf

According to the document, British intelligence officials thought they'd got the terror suspect on side.

http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/03/week_4/23_qatada.html