AMMAN: Islamist cleric Abu Qatada pleaded not guilty on Sunday to terror charges pressed by Jordanian military prosecutors just hours after his deportation from Britain, his lawyer said.

“Abu Qatada pleaded not guilty,” defence lawyer Taysir Diab said after the closed-door hearing before a military tribunal.

“I will appeal tomorrow (Monday) to the (state security) court to release him on bail,” he added.

The cleric was taken to the courthouse near Marka military airfield in east Amman just hours after he was flown in from Britain.

“State security court prosecutors charged Abu Qatada with conspiracy to carry our terrorist acts,” a judicial official said.

“He was remanded in judicial custody for 15 days in the Muwaqqar prison,” in eastern Jordan, he added.

Reporters were not allowed into the courtroom to hear the charges being read out despite a pledge by Information Minister Mohammad Momani of “transparency” in Jordan's handling of Abu Qatada's retrial.

Jordanian law gives him the right to a retrial with him present in the dock.

Cameron hailed the final removal of Abu Qatada from British soil after a legal battle that cost the taxpayer pound 1.7 million ($2.7 million).

The Jordanian information minister reiterated the undertaking on Sunday.

“His retrial will be conducted in line with international standards, protecting his rights and ensuring justice, fairness, credibility and transparency,” Momani told the state-run Petra news agency.

A security official said that after his arrival “a team of doctors including the state coroner examined the suspect and made sure there were no signs of torture.” London had been trying to deport Abu Qatada since 2005 but British and European courts had blocked his expulsion on the grounds that evidence might be used against him that had been obtained by torture.

But after years of legal battles his lawyers unexpectedly said in May that he would return once the fair trial treaty was ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

He was taken from prison in an armoured police van to a military airfield on the outskirts of London, from which he was flown out at 0146 GMT.

Television pictures showed him dressed in a white robe as he boarded the aircraft at the RAF Northolt base. He had earlier left high security Belmarsh jail in southeast London in a blue armoured police van flanked by three police cars.

Abu Qatada's wife and five children are expected to remain in Britain, where he first sought asylum in 1993.—AFP