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Ten face deportation in Britain |
Robert MacPherson, London / AFP
08/12/2005
Ten foreigners were detained Thursday, and face deportation from Britain on national security grounds, as part of a crackdown on hardline Islamists in the wake of last month's bombings in London.
One of the detainees was said to be Abu Qatada, 44, a Jordanian resident in Britain for 12 years who has been described as Al-Qaeda's "ambassador" in Europe, and who has been the subject of a "control order" or house curfew.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he used a power to "deport individuals whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good for reasons of national security" to enable the Immigration Service to detain the 10 foreigners.
The detainees -- picked up in London and across central England -- have the right to appeal any deportation order to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, but the process could take years, a top immigration official said.
"The process can drag on for months if not years," said Keith Best, the chief executive of the Immigration Advisory Service.
In all, Britain is looking for assurances from 10 countries, a Home Office spokeswoman said.
The lawyer representing seven of the ten detained foreigners blasted the move as "insane and dangerous".
Gareth Peirce said assurances from "appalling regimes" known to use torture had been rejected internationally and carried no penalty if broken.
She said the Home Office could not claim Jordan or Algeria had witnessed "overnight any internal revolution that does away with torture.
"This is insane and dangerous government at its worse." |
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