 Abu Qatada has been held in a prison since October 2002 |
A radical Muslim cleric has begun his appeal to be freed from a high-security prison, where he is detained as a suspected terrorist. Abu Qatada has been held without charge or trial for more than a year under terror laws imposed after 11 September.
He "entirely denies" involvement in terrorism, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, in London, heard.
Mr Qatada, a Palestinian with Jordanian nationality, used to preach at the Finsbury Park mosque, in north London.
His QC, Ben Emmerson, said the cleric denied "that his presence in this country is any threat to the United Kingdom's national security".
For Home Secretary David Blunkett to suggest that Mr Qatada had preached violence against the UK was "a complete distortion of his teachings", he added.
"Far from representing a threat to this country's national security his presence had what was acknowledged to be a restraining influence."
Despite the accusations against Mr Qatada, many within the Muslim community regard him as a distinguished scholar of the Koran.
'Spiritual advice'
But the government believes he has been "directly involved" in terrorist operations.
They told the commission 18 video tapes of his sermons were found in a Hamburg flat used by three of the men alleged to have hijacked the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
They also said he gave "spiritual advice and encouragement to those involved in terrorist plots in Strasbourg and Paris".
The cleric is a Palestinian with Jordanian nationality and he is also known as Sheikh Omar Abu Omar.
He was granted asylum in Britain in 1993 after claiming he was fleeing religious persecution in Jordan.
He one of a number of people who were interned under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, 2001, introduced by Mr Blunkett.
The act says people can be held if they pose a threat to national security or have links to international terrorism but are foreign nationals who cannot be deported.
Lost appeals
Lawyers for Mr Blunkett have only to prove that the government has "reasonable grounds to suspect" the detainees have links with terrorism.
This is a far lower requirement than the standard of proof needed to convict them in a criminal court.
Most of the appeal commission's hearings are closed to the press and public, and those held are not allowed to hear all the evidence against them.
Their lawyers are denied access to most of the secret material which the government claims backs up the decision to detain them.
Instead, the attorney general has appointed special advocates who have been vetted by MI5 to act on their behalf.
Last month, 10 of the men who have been held under these emergency powers lost their appeals against detention.
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It is, we submit, a complete distortion of his teachings for the Secretary of State now to suggest that he is a spiritual leader preaching violence against the United Kingdom 
