(MENAFN - Jordan Times) A delegation of UK officials is currently visiting the Kingdom to discuss the case of Jordanian citizen Omar Mahmoud Othman, alias Abu Qatada, with concerned Jordanian officials, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported Monday.
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Rakan Majali told Petra that discussions with the delegation, headed by British Home Secretary Theresa May, will also cover means to provide the UK with assurances that Abu Qatada and other Jordanian suspects receive fair trials, especially after the "positive" amendments made to the Constitution to this effect.
Minister of Interior Mohammad Al Raoud met with May yesterday to discuss cooperation in police training and combating terrorism, drugs and organised crime, according to Petra.
The British embassy confirmed in a statement yesterday that May is currently in Jordan to discuss the case of radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada with senior officials.
The UK has sought to deport Abu Qatada, who was convicted in absentia of involvement in terror attacks in Jordan in 1998, for six years, but has come up against resistance from European institutions that oppose his deportation on supposed human rights grounds.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in January that Britain cannot deport Abu Qatada back to Jordan because evidence used against him may have been obtained through torture.
The government said last month that it would contest the court's ruling.
May yesterday reiterated the UK's position that Abu Qatada can be ensured a fair trial in Jordan, but said no final agreement had yet been reached under which he may be deported.
"We and the Jordanian government will continue to work together to progress this case. Jordan has made significant human rights advances, including changes to its Constitution. Sadly the Court at Strasbourg failed to recognise this," May said in the embassy statement.
"Talks today have been positive but we have more work to do in getting the kind of assurances that will allow us to deport Abu Qatada once and for all. This case has gone on for over a decade and I want to bring it to a satisfactory end soon," she added.
