Britain has struck a new deal with Jordan which will 'finally make possible' the deportation of hate cleric Abu Qatada, Home Secretary Theresa May announced today.
The treaty secures new reassurances that evidence obtained by torture will not be used against the radical preacher and its expected to become law in the UK by the end of June.
But Mrs May warned Qatada will still be likely to launch more legal challenges to the process, as she branded the decade-long battle to kick him out of Britain 'absurd'.
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Remaining in Britain? Abu Qatada has won the latest court case today in his long running legal battle to avoid deportation
The Home Office released this image of Home Secretary Theresa May signing the fair trial guarantees with Jordan that she believes will reassure courts that torture evidence would not be used against Abu Qatada
Mrs May said a new comprehensive mutual legal assistance agreement has been struck with Jordan, in an attempt to reassure the courts that he will receive a fair trial on terror charges.
He has repeatedly argued that evidence against him was obtained by torture.
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It includes a number of fair trial guarantees and would apply to anyone being deported from either country.
It does not name Qatada directly, but it states that any evidence used to prosecute someone who is to be deported cannot be used 'unless the prosecution in the receiving State proves beyond any doubt that the statement has been provided out of free-will and choice and was not obtained by torture or ill-treatment by the authorities of the receiving State'.
Mrs May told the Commons: 'I believe that the treaty we have agreed with Jordan - once ratified by both parliaments - will finally make possible the deportation of Abu Qatada.
'But as I have warned the House before, even when the treaty is fully ratified, it will not mean that Qatada will be on a plane to Jordan within days.
'We will be able to issue a new deportation decision, but Qatada will still have legal appeals available to him, and it will therefore be up to the courts to make the final decision.
'That legal process may well still take many months, but in the meantime I believe Qatada should remain behind bars.'
Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes hailed the treaty as a 'gamechanger' but Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the home affairs select committee, said the entire process had become a 'farce'.
But Mrs May warned that even when the new treaty is fully ratified by both countries it will not mean that terror suspect Qatada will be 'on a plane to Jordan within days'.
Mrs May said the deal will 'finally' make it possible to kick Qatada out but Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs the government was 'back to legal square one again'
David Cameron is considering a temporary withdrawal from the European human rights convention in order to finally remove Abu Qatada from Britain
VIDEO Home Secretary Theresa May says Abu Qatada should remain locked up
'Abu Qatada should remain behind bars,' says Theresa May
Home Office minister James Brokenshire is understood to have visited the country to secure fresh assurances that the preacher will be treated fairly. However, the new agreement will be subject to fresh appeals by Qatada.
At best, it would restart the legal merry-go-round, with the case going back through the British courts – and even returning to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. That could allow Qatada to remain in Britain for many years at taxpayers’ expense.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'Today, we are back to legal square one again.'
She said that in the past Mrs May 'has overstated the evidence, overstated her legal position, and overstated her legal strategy which instead has failed. We hope that she has not done so again'.
It came after the Government discovered it had lost the latest round in an interminable legal battle to remove the terror suspect.
Downing Street today refused to deny reports that David Cameron is considering a temporary withdrawal from the European human rights convention in order to finally remove Qatada from Britain.
Theresa May told MPs the length of the legal battle was 'absurd'
Challenged on the idea, Mrs May said: 'We should have all options - including leaving the convention altogether - on the table.
'The Prime Minister is looking at all the options. That is the only sensible thing to do.'
But former Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke dismised the idea.
The minister without portfolio again risked the ire of Tory MPs who want the government to take a tougher line with Qatada.
He told BBC Radio 4's World at One that the Government had no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
'I’m not aware that we are actively looking at that. If I was asked my advice on that by any of my colleagues I’d have to say I don’t think that’s got the faintest thing to do with Abu Qatada.
'It’s not the policy of this government to withdraw either from a short period or for a lengthy period from the European Convention on Human Rights.'
Earlier Mrs May rejected the idea of just putting Qatada on a plane, insisting Britain has to abide by the law. She added that it had taken too long to deal with the radical preacher.
'It is absurd for the deportation of a suspected foreign terrorist to take so many years and cost the taxpayer so much money.
'That's why we need to make sense of our human rights laws. In the meantime the government is doing everything it can to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan.'
The Prime Minister held a ‘council of war’ with senior ministers yesterday to find a way of deporting the hate preacher to his native Jordan to face terror charges, according to sources.
Mrs May, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and Attorney General Dominic Grieve were summoned for talks at Downing Street shortly before the Government discovered it had lost the latest round in an interminable legal battle to remove the terror suspect.
European judges have ruled that Qatada would not receive a fair trial in Jordan but Conservative MPs have suggested that the threat of Britain pulling out of the convention would persuade Strasbourg to back down.
The Prime Minister’s decision to put himself at the head of Government efforts to remove Qatada is high risk, since he will now be blamed if they fail.
Still smiling: Labour and Conservative ministers have been trying to deport Qatada for a decade but have failed
Ministers have been trying for a decade to send Qatada to Jordan, where he is accused of plotting a terrorist atrocity to coincide with the Millennium.
His removal was originally approved by the British courts, only to be halted by the European Court of Human Rights last year.
Judges in Strasbourg said he would not get a fair trial because some of the evidence used against him may have been obtained by torture. Controversially, Mrs May opted not to appeal against this verdict.
Instead, she and her ministers secured personal promises from the Jordanian authorities there would be no use of torture evidence, and began the deportation process again in the UK legal system.
But last November, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said it was not satisfied with the assurances, and halted Qatada’s removal. The court said it must reflect the Strasbourg ruling.
That decision was last month upheld by the Appeal Court and yesterday the same court refused permission for the Home Secretary to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court. The Government is to persist with its bid by applying directly to the Supreme Court for permission.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The Government remains committed to deporting this dangerous man and we continue to work with the Jordanians to address the outstanding legal issues preventing deportation.’
Qatada – who has been linked to a long list of international terrorists – is currently in Belmarsh high-security jail for allegedly breaching his immigration bail conditions. It is feared the longer the case drags on the less willing judges will be to insist Qatada remains in prison and the more likely it is that he will be allowed back out on to the streets.
KEY EVENTS IN ABU QATADA'S BATTLE AGAINST DEPORTATION
September 16 1993 - The Jordanian father of five claims asylum when he arrives in Britain on a forged passport.
June 1994 - He is allowed to stay in Britain.
March 1995 - Qatada issues a 'fatwa' justifying the killing of converts from Islam, their wives and children in Algeria.
May 1998 - He applies for indefinite leave to remain in Britain.
April 1999 - He is convicted in his absence on terror charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment.
October 1999 - The radical cleric speaks in London advocating the killing of Jews and praising attacks on Americans.
February 2001 - He is arrested by anti-terror police over involvement in a plot to bomb Strasbourg Christmas market. Officers find him in possession of £170,000 in cash, including £805 in an envelope marked 'For the mujahedin in Chechnya'.
December 2001 - Qatada becomes one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in Acton, West London.
October 2002 - He is arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail.
March 2005 - He is freed on conditional bail and placed on a control order.
August 2005 - The preacher is arrested under immigration rules as the Government seeks to deport him to Jordan.
April 2008 - The Court of Appeal rules that deporting him would breach his human rights because evidence used against him in Jordan may have been obtained through torture.
May 2008 - Qatada is granted bail by the immigration tribunal but told he must stay inside for 22 hours a day.
June 2008 - He is released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and moves in to a four bedroomed £800,000 home in West London.
November 2008 - He is rearrested after the Home Office tells an immigration hearing of fears he plans to abscond.
December 2008 - Qatada's bail is revoked by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after hearing secret evidence that the risk of him absconding has increased.
February 18 2009 - In a landmark judgment, five Law Lords unanimously back the Government's policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments. It is ruled he can be deported to Jordan to face terror charges.
February 19 2009 - Qatada is awarded £2,500 compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after the judges rule that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.
January 2012 - European judges rule the firebrand cleric can be sent back to Jordan with diplomatic assurances but he cannot be deported while 'there remains a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him'.
February 6 2012 - SIAC rules he can be released on bail, despite posing a risk to national security.
February 9 2012 - David Cameron and King Abdullah of Jordan agree on the 'importance of finding an effective resolution' to his case, Downing Street says.
February 13 2012 - It emerges Qatada has been released on bail from Long Lartin prison.
April 17 2012 - The cleric is arrested as the Government prepares to deport him to Jordan.
April 18 2012 - Abu Qatada lodges an appeal - potentially delaying his deportation by months.
March 6 2013 - He is returned to jail over fears the terror suspect was trying to communicate with associates, in breach of bail conditions.
March 27 2013 - Court of Appeal admits hate preacher is 'very dangerous' but rules sending him to face a terror trial in Jordan would not be fair.
April 17 2013 - Home Office says it will take its battle to the Supreme Court.
April 23 2013 - Court of Appeal rejects government request to appeal.