Abu Qatada To Walk Free After Jordan Court Clears Him Of Terror Charges

Firebrand Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada, who was accused of being involved in a terrorist plot targeting the millennium celebrations in the country in 2000, was cleared of all charges on Wednesday by a military court in Amman, according to media reports.

Qatada is expected to be released later in the day after the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was involved in the so-called “millennium plot,” which was supposedly aimed at American and Israeli tourists.

The decision comes just three months after the radical Salafist preacher was acquitted of conspiring in a 1998 bombing plot in Jordan.

Qatada, who had been granted asylum in the UK in 1994, was extradited from the country in July last year, 12 years after he was first arrested in the aftermath of 9/11.

During a court appearance earlier this month, Qatada had criticized the Islamic State group, calling them a “killing and demolition machine” and terming its fighters as the “dogs of hellfire.”