Terror suspect Abu Qatada touches down in Jordan after being deported from UK

Radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada sits in the backseat of a police car outside the state security court in Amman

Abu Qatada was met by his family as he finally faced terror charges in Jordan after a near-decade long battle to deport the radical cleric came to a tense close. The 53-year-old hate preacher left Belmarsh prison shortly after midnight on Sunday morning in a police convoy. He was taken to RAF Northholt, from where he was flown in a private jet to Jordan. He landed in the Middle Eastern country at around 8am today. Qatada was taken in a green SUV, escorted by a 12-car convoy containing masked anti-terrorism police, to the nearby military State Security Court in a sealed-off street on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital Amman, the Associated Press reported. Abu Qatada's father, Mahmoud, and an unidentified relative stood at the entrance of the court building, but were not allowed to enter. 'I have nothing to say, except that my son is innocent and I hope the court will set him free,' Qatada's father said. The Government had been trying to deport Qatada to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999, for over eight years but had been prevented from doing so by the EU court of human rights. The Home Office chartered a small private jet to carry Qatada to Jordan. They had previously refused to confirm or deny reports that he would be leaving the country. Jordanian officials have been quoted as saying they expect the terror suspect to leave Britain in the early hours. Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the deportation saying removing the terror suspect from the UK 'was a priority for this govt', and that there was a 'clear plan' and a 'right and stubborn refusal to bow to what many thought inevitable'.

Mr Cameron tweeted his pleasure at the news just hours after Qatada left Britain aboard a private flight bound for Jordan from RAF Northolt, in west London.  The Prime Minister said he was 'absolutely delighted' when Qatada left the UK today, saying his continued presence here had made his 'blood boil'. Mr Cameron said: 'This is something this Government said it would get done and we have got it done, and it is an issue that like the rest of the country has made my blood boil that this man who has no right to be in our country, who is a threat to our country and that it took so long and was so difficult to deport him, but we have done it, he is back in Jordan, and that is excellent news.' The Prime Minister said that the lengthy deportation process and repeated appeals had been 'immensely frustrating', and that plans were under way to simplify the process through the Immigration Bill. Asked about suggestions the UK should withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Cameron said: 'I think it is important that Britain meets proper international obligations - and we do - but frankly when it comes to these cases I don't rule anything out in terms of getting this better for the future.' He also said that the Conservatives would set out 'the right steps to deal with this' in its next manifesto. Mr Cameron said: 'I don't pre-judge what they will be but the one thing I am certain of is that if you have someone in your country, who has come here and threatens your country, who you can deport to a safe country, you should be able to do that and it shouldn't take so long... 'You will read in the next Conservative manifesto the steps that will be necessary to make sure that in future you can deport people who threaten your country more quickly. 'That's the key outcome and I have always said this: that whatever it takes to deliver that outcome, the next Conservative Government will do.'

Shortly after Qatada's plane left the airfield at about 2.45am, Home Secretary Theresa May said: 'I am glad that this government's determination to see him on a plane has been vindicated and that we have at last achieved what previous governments, Parliament and the British public have long called for. 'This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country. 'I am also clear that we need to make sense of our human rights laws and remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport. We are taking steps - including through the new Immigration Bill - to put this right.' Mrs May said that she had been as 'frustrated as the British public' at the length of time it has taken to deport Qatada to Jordan to face terrorism charges.

She told BBC Breakfast the government would now look to make changes through parliament and the upcoming Immigration Bill to ensure that similar deportations in the future can be carried out much more quickly, and to reduce the number of appeals processes.

The Home Secretary also said it was vital that the UK re-examines its relationship with the European Court of Human Rights, which proved a regular stumbling block in deporting Qatada. She said: 'We have got to look at that relationship, and as far as I am concerned I think nothing should be off the table in terms of looking at how we work with and how we deal with the European Court... 'We as the UK need to look at our relationship with the European Court and we need to ensure that in future we are able to deport people more quickly. 'I am pleased that Abu Qatada has been deported, I think the British public will be pleased about that. They have wanted that for some time, this Government has now achieved it.'

Mrs May said she had no concerns about Qatada's treatment once he reaches Jordan because of assurances hammered out in the treaty with the Jordanian government. 

Following numerous courtroom battles, it was a treaty signed between the UK and Jordan that finally secured Qatada's departure, giving the radical preacher the assurances he needed to leave his taxpayer-funded home behind.

The agreement, announced by the Home Secretary earlier this year, aimed to allay fears that evidence extracted through torture will be used against the father of five at a retrial.

In a shock decision, Qatada pledged in May to leave Britain - with his family in tow - if and when the treaty was fully ratified, a process that to the relief of many, concluded earlier this week.

MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: 'Only 446 days after the Home Secretary said Abu Qatada would be on a plane shortly, he has finally reached the end of the runway. 'In the end, it was the king of Jordan who secured his departure by agreeing to this treaty. 'The Home Secretary's legal advisers will have questions to answer as to why they didn't conceive of this scheme earlier which would have prevented a cost to the taxpayer of £1.7 million.' The Jordanian government published a treaty designed to trigger Qatada's deportation in its official gazette, leaving just a handful of legal steps before it is brought into law. Qatada previously volunteered to leave his taxpayer-funded home in Britain for Jordan - with his family in tow - as soon as the treaty is ratified by both countries.

He claimed his trial for plotting a terror attack would be unfair because some of the evidence used against him may have been obtained by torture. This argument, originally rejected by the British courts, was upheld by judges in Strasbourg. It forced Home Secretary Theresa May to seek new legal guarantees from Jordan that Qatada’s rights would not be breached.

But, in a shock move earlier this year, Qatada said he would return home voluntarily when the treaty Mrs May agreed with Jordan is fully ratified. It explicitly rules out the use of any torture evidence. Qatada, who has cost the taxpayer millions of pounds in housing benefit and other state handouts is behind bars was released on bail in mid-February but was returned to Belmarsh a few weeks later after a police raid on his home.

Officers say he breached a bail condition which restricts use of mobile phones and other communication devices. A search found memory sticks containing jihadist propaganda and internet enabled mobile phones. Over the past eight years, Qatada’s lawyers have pocketed £864,944 in legal aid. Of this, the authorities have managed to claw back only £217,286 by selling assets belonging to the preacher.

The cost to taxpayers of trying to boot him out has been a further £938,630 in the domestic courts, and £130,018 at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This gives a net total of £1,716, 286. He has spent years in maximum security prisons, with every year inside costing taxpayers up to £60,000. In May a court was told that Qatada and his family had complained that their taxpayer-funded house was too small and they did not have enough storage space. Judges heard that his family would join him in Jordan rather than stay behind in Britain. But officials are conscious that, despite his commitment to leave Britain, Qatada could still make a U-turn and lodge fresh legal appeals.Qatada was placed behind bars in London's Belmarsh prison after breaching a bail condition which restricts use of mobile phones and other communication devices. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) previously heard that a USB stick understood to belong to Qatada's eldest son contained 'jihadist files' made by the 'media wing of al Qaida'. The terror suspect is also being investigated by Scotland Yard over suspected extremist material found during the search of his home. 

Mahmoud Othman Omar, the father of Abu Qatada, looks on as he makes his way to the State Security Court