Abu Qatada appeal due
Home Secretary Theresa May's appeal against the decision to allow radical preacher Abu Qatada to stay in the UK will begin today - three days after he was arrested for breaching bail conditions.
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Lord Blair: Cases like Qatada make dangerous politics
Former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Lord Blair told Sky News that "hard cases" like the deportation of Abu Qatada should not mean scrapping the Human Rights Act or leaving the European Court of Human Rights.
This does seem to me an extraordinary idea. Hard cases like Abu Qatada make bad law and make dangerous politics.
I have worked with five home secretaries, all of whom have been dealing with Abu Qatada and all of whom have been frustrated by it.
But one or two of these really difficult cases doesn't mean that we should withdraw from a treaty which British lawyers drew up in the 1940s after the Second World War.
Where do we go next? Do we withdraw from the United Nations?
Judges to hear May's Qatada appeal on Monday
Home Secretary Theresa May's appeal against the decision to allow radical preacher Abu Qatada to stay in the UK is due to be heard tomorrow.
Three Court of Appeal judges led by Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls, will hear the challenge.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) decided last November that Qatada could not lawfully be deported to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999.
Siac judges ruled there was a danger that evidence from Qatada's former co-defendants Abu Hawsher and Al-Hamasher, said to have been obtained by torture, could be used against him in a retrial in Jordan.
They said: "The Secretary of State has not satisfied us that, on a retrial, there is no real risk that the impugned statements of Abu Hawsher and Al-Hamasher would be admitted probatively against the appellant."
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Radical preacher Abu Qatada to remain in custody
Abu Qatada will remain in custody following his arrest for allegedly breaking his bail conditions, a judge ruled.
Read the full storyAbu Qatada must remain in custody
Radical preacher Abu Qatada must remain in custody following his arrest for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, a spokesman for the Judicial Office said.
Home Secretary confirms rearrest of Qatada
The Home Secretary announced today that radical cleric Abu Qatada will be 're-detained' following a hearing at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Theresa May said that by 2015, "We will need a plan for dealing with the European Court of Human Rights".
She added: "I want to be clear that all options including leaving the Convention all together should be on the table".
No hazardous materials found in police search
A Metropolitan police spokesman said officers had completed their searches of all four properties today and no hazardous materials had been found.
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Decision due over Qatada 'bail breach'
Radical preacher Abu Qatada will discover whether he must remain in custody today after he was arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) is due to hold an urgent telephone hearing this afternoon to determine whether Qatada will be granted bail, a spokesman for the Judicial Office said.
Recap: Abu Qatada's fight against deportation
Once described by a Spanish judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe", Abu Qatada has used human rights laws to fight deportation for more than a decade.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) decided last November that Qatada could not lawfully be deported to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999.
SIAC judges ruled there was a danger that evidence from Qatada's former co-defendants Abu Hawsher and Al-Hamasher, said to have been obtained by torture, could be used against him in a retrial in Jordan.
He was granted bail following the ruling by three SIAC judges and released from HMP Long Lartin, returning to his family home in London.
However, on Monday the Government will challenge the decision in front of three Court of Appeal judges led by Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls.
Home Office confirms 52-year-old's bail breach arrest
Responding to inquiries about Abu Qatada's arrest, a Home Office spokesperson said:
The UK Border Agency arrested a 52-year-old man from north London for alleged breaches of his bail conditions imposed by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Terror police raided Qatada's home on Thursday
Terror police began the raid on Abu Qatada's London home at 6.30am on Thursday, Scotland Yard said, before the radical preacher was arrested.
Another residential home and a business were also searched on Thursday, while a search on a third property is ongoing, the spokesman said.
The searches were carried out in connection with ongoing inquiries by the Counter Terrorism Command, he added.
No arrests have been made in connection with the police investigation.