British authorities on Tuesday arrested radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, who is accused of ties to late Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, as they resumed efforts to deport him to Jordan. The UK government has been trying to extradite the 51-year-old Jordanian since 2005 arguing that he is a threat to national security, but British and European courts have repeatedly thwarted its efforts on human rights grounds. “UK Border Agency officers have today arrested Abu Qatada and told him that we intend to resume deportation proceedings against him,” a spokesman for the Home Office, or interior ministry, said in a statement.
