Cameron: ECHR hinders fight against terror

STRASBOURG, France, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday decisions by the European Court of Human Rights hindered Britain's ability to protect against terrorism.

"Protecting a country from terrorism is one of the most important tasks for any government ... but the problem today is that you can end up with someone who has no right to live in your country, who you are convinced -- and have good reason to be convinced -- means to do your country harm, and yet there are circumstances in which you cannot try them, you cannot detain them and you cannot deport them,"

Cameron said.

Speaking before the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg, France, where the court is also based, the prime minister said "having put in place every possible safeguard to ensure that [European Court of Human Rights] are not violated, we still cannot fulfill our duty to our law-abiding citizens to protect them. Together, we have to find a solution to this."

His speech came after the ECHR last week ruled Abu Qatada, once called Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, could not be deported from Britain to Jordan to face terrorism charges.

The court said Qatada wouldn't get a fair trial in his native Jordan, where he faces charges he planned bomb attacks on two hotels and provided advice and money for a series of bombings to coincide with the millennium. The European court cited a risk evidence obtained by torture would be used against him, amounting to a "flagrant denial of justice."