Qatada acquitted by court in Jordan
Radical cleric Abu Qatada, who was deported from the UK last July, has been acquitted by a military court in Jordan of plotting attacks on Americans and Israelis.
The decision was handed down by civilian judges in the Jordanian capital Amman.
The court ruled there was insufficient evidence against Qatada, and his lawyer, Husein Mubaidin, said he expected his client to be released within hours.
The Muslim preacher was charged with involvement in plans to target Israeli and US tourists and Western diplomats in Jordan in 2000 – the so-called “millennium plot”.
The 53-year-old preacher was also acquitted in June in another case, a foiled 1999 plan to attack an American school in Amman.
He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
