Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Abu Qatada


While this blog has supported the rights of British citizens to face justice in Britain there are some people who have a reputation for inciting hatred. One of these is Abu Qatada. It is difficult to conjure up much sympathy for his plight since today Theresa May has just announced his arrest and deportation to Jordan, where he has already been sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour for inciting terrorist attacks. My main reservation is that this sentence, passed in absentia, means Qatada did not present a defence, and while guarantees have been assured of a fair trial this time, as far as I can see there is nothing to stop them implementing the outstanding sentence. Qatada’s imprisonment in this country has been described as costly to the taxpayer.

So what is the difference between Qatada and Ahmed Chalabi? Chalabi is a proven war-criminal. He put together false evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction which was used to take us into the illegal war which cost, and is costing, thousands of lives. Furthermore, he is wanted, in Jordan, for stealing investors’ money from the Petra Bank he set up there. So what is the difference between him and Abu Qatada? You don’t need to be on University Challenge to know the answer. The difference is Chalabi has money. Tories, Labour, Lib-Dems and other neo-cons court people with money, however they got their greedy hands on it. Perhaps we should lobby Theresa May to get Abu Qatada and Ahmed Chalabi both on the same plane!

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