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Nick Robinson
Political editor
What to do about Qatada?
He's out...again.
Not as promised on a plane to Jordan but, this morning, in a car taking him back home here in Britain.
It wasn't meant to be like this.
Seven months ago the home secretary said: "We can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good."
The opposition have mocked Theresa May in public but in private they understand the problem.
After all the British government - first Labour, now the Coalition - have been fighting Abu Qatada's lawyers in the courts for 11 years at a cost, some claim, of more than a million pounds.
In theory ministers now have three options.
To charge Abu Qatada under British law - BUT so far there is simply not the evidence to do so.
To appeal against this week's ruling - they'll try but success is, as they surely know by now, far from guaranteed.
That's why the most likely option is that Jordan is lobbied to change its law again - in an effort to reassure the British courts.
The home secretary's officials are in Amman now. The King of Jordan is in London for talks next week.
Cheerleaders for human rights legislation say this proves that it can even change laws in the middle east.
Critics say that's at a high cost to people here in Britain.
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Comment number 247.
justme14th November 2012 - 23:01
Firstly he isn’t one of our nationals so why should we have to deal with him but until we resolve the legal issue,we should move him to a more remote rural area where they have no internet or mobile phone network or tv in a house that has all the basics and preferable no inhabitants in the surrounding area I think this would forefill our legal requirement and reduce or costs and security issues.
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Comment number 246.
Billythefirst14th November 2012 - 21:07
Can't the American's tell us what to do like normal?
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Comment number 245.
Thunder14th November 2012 - 21:04
Thanks for NOT replying to me YESTERDAY Nick ? Given we are selling planes don't you think you should 'get real' and answer my question ?
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Comment number 244.
Timart14th November 2012 - 19:19
It's all very well for the trendy libertarians to congratulate themselves on having helped to free Qatada from jail, but people like him have no libertarian views themselves, and are just working the system to their own advantage. If people with similar views to Qatada's eventually prevail in this country, it will be the libertarians who'll suffer most as a result of their erstwhile misguidedness.
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Comment number 243.
kaybraes14th November 2012 - 19:09
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comments 5 of 247