What Now For Abu Qatada After Aquittal?

By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, in Amman, Jordan

Only a man sure he was on the verge of freedom would smile walking into a cage, flanked by armed police in a high-security court.

Abu Qatada exuded confidence from behind the bars of the dock.

It took only a few minutes for the judge to read out the verdict.

He said there was simply not enough evidence for a conviction on involvement in a plan to attack Israeli and western tourists during millennium celebrations.

Having been cleared in June of another charge related to alleged bomb plot in 1998, the man once dubbed "Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" was cleared of all the accusations he had been convicted of in absentia 14 years ago.

Abu Qatada was pictured smiling in a cage at the court in Amman, Jordan

The Home Office was quick to say that Abu Qatada would not be able to return to Britain, regardless of the verdict, but it's not entirely clear that he would want to, even if he was able to.

Qatada's battle against extradition was always grounded on the claim that he would not receive a fair trial in Jordan.

His lawyers insisted the testimonies that formed the evidence against him were obtained under torture.

The agreement that no such testimonies would be used in his retrial was key to his deportation last year.

Now the trial has taken place and his acquittal secured, there are many reasons why Abu Qatada may be content to stay in Jordan.

Key among them is the rise of Islamic State - a crisis that Abu Qatada may feel he can influence most effectively from the region.

As he left court, journalists mobbed him.

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada speaks to the media after his release from prison near Amman

He was flanked by journalists as an emotional reunion took place

Desperate to get his response not just to his acquittal, but to get his view on the airstrikes against IS – the group whose behaviour he has already denounced as counter to Islam.

It's clear, perhaps because of his notoriety, Abu Qatada remains one of the world's most influential jihadist thinkers.

"I don't think Abu Qatada is involved in terrorist organisations, otherwise he'd have been found guilty," said his friend, Jordanian analyst of jihadi movements, Marwan Shehadeh.

"But he's one of the main mentors for jihadist groups – and he's a Sheikh, a scholar of sharia law, and so he gives fatwas in relation to jihad."

Shehadeh believes the rise of Islamic State has divided global jihadist thinking, and added: "There are two wings – one is represented by (Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al) Zarqawi, which is now Islamic State, the other is the views of Bin Laden, which is al Qaeda.

"I think Abu Qatada is more supportive of al Qaeda than IS. He judges the actions by looking to sharia law, and makes fatwas based on that."

Family members of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada

His family celebrated after being acquitted of all charges

But Shehadeh also warned regional governments not to count on Qatada's condemnation of Islamic State, neutering the potential for a backlash in their own countries.

He said: "Of course he is against the alliance – the campaign to target IS, al Nusra and other factions ... I think soon he will release statement against the alliance and the airstrikes."