Jordan and Britain to sign extradition agreement
Jordan and Britain will soon sign a memorandum of understanding on the joint-extradition of wanted people between both countries, Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yirfas said today.
Jordan and Britain have been discussing an extradition agreement for more than one year and Jordan’s Cabinet will be called on soon to ratify it, said Yirfas.
“The two countries’ ministries of interior have finalised recently the memorandum of understanding and I will submit it soon to the Cabinet to endorse it,” he said.
But the minister declined to say whether a wanted Palestinian Islamic extremist living in Britain, Omar Mahmoud abu Omar, better known as Abu Qatada, will be extradited back to Amman, where he faces a life prison term for alleged involvement in terror plots.
“It is still too soon to speak about this issue,” Yirfas said.
Abu Qatada, 45, has been sentenced in Jordan in absentia for his alleged involvement in a series of explosions and terror plots, mainly a Millennium plot that targeted American and Israeli tourists. He was charged with financing the terror cell.
In 1993, he was granted political asylum when he arrived in Britain.
He is alleged to have been an inspiration for Mohammed Atta, the Egyptian lead September 11 hijacker. Abu Qatada was jailed in Britain for three years and freed in March, but has been kept under strict surveillance.
Abu Qatada also was accused of giving spiritual advice and encouragement to those involved in terrorist plots uncovered in Europe in 2001. The British government said 18 videotapes of Abu Qatada’s sermons were found in a Hamburg flat used by three of the September 11 hijackers, including Atta.
