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Has Qatada posted more online rants? Jihadi articles 'written while under surveillance'
- Qatada was banned from using a mobile, a computer or surfing the internet
- On March 8 he was led away in handcuffs from his North London home
- After search Scotland Yard found 'extremist internet material' in his name
- Released from jail in February last year under strict bail conditions
- Received over £500,000 in legal aid in ten-year battle with Government
By Arthur Martin and Chris Greenwood
PUBLISHED:09:22 EST, 21 March 2013| UPDATED:19:59 EST, 21 March 2013
Re-arrest: Radical preacher Abu Qatada is being investigated over extremist material he may have written while on bail, police revealed
Hate preacher Abu Qatada is being investigated for allegedly posting extremist propaganda on the internet while his every move was being monitored by security officials.
Anti-terror police raided his home after they found fresh jihadi articles on the internet, and are probing if they have been written by Qatada.
If the allegations are true, it would make a mockery out of strict controls he has been placed under since his release from jail last year.
The Jordanian-born extremist was subjected to some of the tightest bail conditions ever imposed in Britain on his release.
He was banned from using the internet and telephone, forced to wear an electronic tag and told to comply with a 22-hour curfew within a defined zone around his home in north London.
Meetings with anyone other than immediate family had to be approved by security officials.
He was rated such a danger to the public that his home was monitored round the clock by 60 officers from Scotland Yard, MI5 and a private security company at a cost of £100,000 a week.
However, detectives are investigating whether he found a way to bypass these measures to send jihadi propaganda to followers around the world.
Police searched the cleric's house earlier this month and seized a large amount of material, including internet publications. He was then arrested over breaching his bail conditions.
A senior judge said there was 'strong evidence' the Islamist cleric had done so by allowing mobile phones to be switched on at his house or by letting electronic storage devices such as memory sticks be brought inside.
Yesterday Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, head of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said detectives are deciding whether they have enough evidence to put Qatada on trial in Britain for the first time since he was detained in the UK ten years ago.
Probe: Police inspected the hate preacher's London home as the radical cleric was arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions
Issues: Searches were carried out over the past fortnight and Scotland Yard say they are now ploughing through the material found
THE EXTREME BAIL CONDITIONS OF THE HATE PREACHER
As part of the 25 conditions, Qatada has a 22-hour home curfew.
Banned from attending a mosque or leaving a small area near his house.
He is not allowed a mobile phone, internet connection or more than one bank account and only vetted visitors can visit his home.
Banned from publishing any statement, leading prayers other than for those in his own family
Cannot arrange to meet people outside his home without Home Office permission.
Officers are attempting to establish whether the mass of publications they seized, which are in several different languages, were written by the extremist cleric.
Mr Osborne said: 'These publications may or may not be attributed to him. There is an awful lot of media that needs to be looked through.
'These include publications on the internet which obviously would go across the whole world. We are investigating where these are sourced from.'
Granted asylum in 1994, Qatada has been described as Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe and is feared to have inspired a generation of terrorists.
The preacher was sent back to prison earlier this month after his latest arrest and is awaiting a hearing to decide whether he can be released on bail again.
He is now estimated to have cost taxpayers £3million.
Drain: Qatada has so far received more than £500,000 in legal aid in his decade-long legal battle against the Government, which wants to deport him to his native Jordan where he is wanted on charges of terrorism
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