UK: Cleric arrested to be deported to Jordan

A radical Islamist cleric at the center of a lengthy legal battle to avoid extradition from Britain to Jordan was arrested Tuesday and told the UK government is resuming attempts to send him to the Arab country.

British authorities have been trying to deport Abu Qatada, a Palestinian-Jordanian preacher described in both Spanish and British courts as a leading al Qaeda figure in Europe, since 2005. They claim he poses a risk to national security. Abu Qatada has previously been convicted in his absence in Jordan of terrorist offenses related to two alleged bomb plots in 1999 and 2000, and would face a retrial if deported from Britain. (AP)