Cleric Qatada loses latest bid for freedom

LONDON, July 31 (UPI) -- Radical religious leader Abu Qatada lost another round in a British court, as judges rejected the latest challenge against his detention.

Two judges in London's High Court ruled Monday that a Special Immigration Appeals Commission decision two months ago was lawful, and that Qatada, who is fighting deportation to Jordan where he faces terrorism charges, should remain in detention, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Qatada's lawyers argued that his seven-year detention is the longest in British history, but a judge said leaving him free during heightened security for the 2012 Olympics would be "exceptionally problematic."

Qatada was convicted in absentia of involvement in terrorist attacks in Jordan in 1998, and faces a retrial there, his home country. Theresa May, British Home Secretary, restarted deportation proceedings in April 2012 after receiving assurances from the Jordanian government that evidence used by torture would not be used against him, the newspaper said.

Repeated attempts to deport him have cost the British government nearly a million pounds, or $1,570,000, in legal fees, government figures show.