LONDON, Feb 18: A cleric described by Britain as a “significant international terrorist” can be deported to Jordan despite fears he may be tortured, the country’s highest court decided on Wednesday.

Jordanian Abu Qatada, named by a Spanish judge as the right hand man in Europe of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, is one of a group of Arab men the government has been trying to deport on national security grounds, while acknowledging it does not have enough evidence to put them on trial.

The Law Lords ruling was a victory for the Home Office (interior ministry) in its long-running campaign to deport Qatada to Jordan, where he is wanted on terrorism charges, and overturns a previous Court of Appeal decision.

“I’m delighted with the Lords’ decision,” Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said in a statement.

The Law Lords also ruled in favour of the government over its attempt to deport two other men to Algeria.

Smith said the decision “highlights the threat these individuals pose to our nation’s security and vindicates our efforts to remove them”.

She said a deportation order would be served on Wednesday.

The government has sought to counter rights groups’ fears of torture by securing special agreements with the countries concerned that deportees will not be ill-treated.

“The Law Lords have given the government a green light to send people back to places where they risk torture and ill-treatment,” said Julia Hall, of Human Rights Watch.

All three men can take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.—Reuters