December 4, 2008 (LPAC)--Many of the terrorists operating in London that were identified by EIR as wanted by countries, including Russia, India, Egypt, Turkey, and others have been at large for years in London, which has called itself the "haven for the oppressed"--as a cover for harboring terrorists--for over a century.

Today, the Daily Telegraph reported that British authorities have re-arrested radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who has been dubbed a top operative of Osama bin Laden in Europe, the Telegraph notes, but who has been in Britain since 1993. In 2002, Qatada was convicted in Jordan for terror offenses and the Home Office is seeking his deportation to Jordan. He was arrested in June 2002 when post-9/11 changes in British law made it possible to arrest those who had not committed violent crimes "on British soil," but was released from jail in June 2008, by the appeals court.

Abu Qatada might in fact be released again if the court refuses the government's request for extradition. He had been released earlier this year, but MI5 wanted him arrested because of the danger he poses and that he was suspected of fleeing the country to reenter the Middle East, possibly Lebanon.

Although Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said they will seek his deportation to Jordan, because he is a "significant threat to national security," he might be set free by Christmas if the House of Lords rules he will not get a fair trial in Jordan. A previous attempt to deport him to Jordan had been overturned.

Qatada, also known as Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman, arrived in Britain on a false passport in 1993 and claimed asylum. In Jordan, Qatada was convicted in absentia in 2002 on charges of plotting attacks on American and Israeli tourist targets in 1998, reported the London Observer. Another bombing he was implicated in cost the life of a 12-year-old girl in Jordan. Videotapes of his ravings were found in a Hamburg flat of Mohammed Atta, one of the alleged 9/11 ringleaders.