Jordan ratifies UK treaty to deport radical cleric

Jordan's information minister says parliament has approved a treaty with Britain that sets the stage for the deportation of radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada.
The Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance eases human rights concerns preventing the deportation of the cleric, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman.
Successive British governments have tried since 2001 to deport him, but courts have blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him. Recently, Abu Qatada said he will go to Jordan voluntarily if the treaty is ratified.
The minister, Mohammed Momani, said today the treaty must also be signed by Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Abu Qatada is wanted in Jordan for retrial in several terror cases in which he was sentenced to death in absentia.