The struggle to deal with foreign terror suspects

Abu Qatada, the Islamist cleric once branded ‘Osama bin Laden’s ambassador to Europe’, has dominated headlines in recent months as the government struggles to return him to Jordan. Theresa May wanted to take a hard line against foreign clerics operating from Britain but has found her hands tied by the European Court of Human Rights. Indeed, she pledged to deport Qatada, only to be overruled by the European courts.

This setback took on added significance yesterday when the United Nations confirmed that it has removed Saad al-Faqih from the al-Qaeda sanctions list which freezes the assets of persons believed to be associated with the group. None of the fifteen member states (including Britain) of the ‘1267 Committee’, the UN group which enforces these sanctions, objected to his removal.

Faqih might not have courted as much attention as Qatada, but is deeply controversial. Formerly a professor of surgery in Saudi Arabia, he fled to the UK in 1993 after being arrested as part of a crackdown against Islamists who opposed Western military involvement during the First Gulf War.