Court awards radical cleric compensation

STRASBOURG, France, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, awarded radical cleric Abu Qatada roughly $3,500 Thursday for what it said was unfair detention.

In its decision, the panel ruled Qatada's detention in Britain without trial after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. soil violated his human rights, The Times of London said.

The award came a day after Qatada lost a key legal battle in Britain, where the House of Lords ruled he could be deported to Jordan could be tried on terrorism-related charges.

Ten other detainees, none named by the court, also received cash awards.

The judges said the damages were lower than awards in previous cases of unlawful detention because the 11 were held in the face of a "public emergency."