'Flight-risk' Qatada is sent back to jail

Firebrand cleric Abu Qatada was returned to jail today after an immigration court ruled he breached the terms of his bail.

A panel of judges at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission was told the radical preacher plotted to use his network of contacts to "disappear". Qatada, 47, who in a previous hearing was described by a judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe", was under 22-hour curfew until his arrest last month.

The Jordanian, real name Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman was on bail pending an attempt to extradite him to the Middle East. His deportation was blocked in May after a ruling his conviction for terrorism in Jordan was based on evidence extracted through torture.

Neither Qatada nor his legal team were in court today. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "He poses a significant threat to our national security." She added that she was working hard to secure Qatada's deportation. The panel's judgement was based on evidence heard in secret.