Abu Qatada Refused Jordan Bail Request

Jordan's military court has refused a bail request by radical preacher Abu Qatada three weeks after he was deported from Britain to face terrorism charges.

The 53-year-old was convicted in absentia of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis, Americans and other Westerners in Jordan in two allegedly foiled plots in 1999 and 2000, but is now receiving a new trial.

Qatada's lawyer, Tayseer Thiab, confirmed that the court had rejected bail.

He said: "The state security court today refused to release Abu Qatada on bail.

"The court gave no reason for its decision. I will meet with Abu Qatada on Wednesday to look into the issue and decide future steps."

Qatada was charged on July 7, just hours after his deported from Britain. He pleaded not guilty.

He is currently in Muwaqqar prison, a maximum security facility that houses more than 1,000 inmates - most of them Islamists convicted of terror offences.

After the original trial he was condemned to death for his alleged role in the terror attacks, but the sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment.

His deportation to Jordan came after Amman and London last month ratified a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used in his retrial.

It marked the end of an eight-year legal battle to remove him from Britain, where he was described by the Government as a "truly dangerous individual" and a "key player" in al Qaeda-related terrorism.

Qatada used his human rights to make a series of costly challenges to moves to deport him back to Jordan.

The Home Office spent a total of £1.7m in legal fees from the many court proceedings.

His wife and five children are planning to move to Amman.

Top Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon once branded Qatada Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, although he denies ever having met the late al Qaeda leader.

Videotapes of his sermons were allegedly found in the Hamburg flat of 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta.