CNN.com - Britain bars freed cleric Bakri

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain said Friday it has barred cleric Omar Bakri from returning to the country from Lebanon, where he was released by police after being detained for 24 hours.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad was released without conditions at about 2:45 p.m. (7:45 a.m. ET), a high-ranking security source in Beirut told CNN.

The source said an investigation had turned up nothing against Bakri, who had faced a new storm in Britain after saying the British government was partly to blame for the July 7 terrorist attacks in London.

Bakri was detained Thursday by Lebanese general security forces. He had flown to Beirut last Saturday.

Although he has lived in London for 20 years, Bakri is Syrian by birth, obtaining Lebanese citizenship in 1983. The Lebanese security source said Syrian officials have requested that Bakri be extradited to Syria, but there has not yet been a formal request submitted.

A delegation planned to travel to Lebanon with documents to explain the request for extradition, the source said.

In Britain, Home Secretary Charles Clarke ruled that Bakri would not be allowed to return to the UK.

"The Home Secretary has issued an order revoking Omar Bakri Mohamed's indefinite leave to remain and to exclude him from the UK on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good," a Home Office spokesman said.

Inayat Bunglawala, from the Muslim Council of Britain, told the UK's Press Association: "Omar Bakri is unlikely to be missed by the vast majority of British Muslims.

"He is someone who for 20 years was given shelter by this country and he has spent almost all that time vilifying this country and its values.

"With his often very offensive remarks he has contributed towards the demonization of British Muslims."

Bakri, who has been investigated by police over his allegedly inflammatory language but never charged, was expelled from Saudi Arabia as an extremist and arrived in Britain in 1986. PA said.

In an interview with CNN last month in London, Bakri said he played no role in the July 7 bombings that killed 52 people. He condemned the attack and said he did not know the four bombers involved.

The British government has called Bakri a radical who incites his followers to violence. An internal government report has listed his group, Al Marjharoun, as an extremist organization, with its followers susceptible to becoming killers.

A young man who attended one of his meetings went on last year to become Britain's first suicide bomber when he attacked a nightclub in Israel.

Bakri proudly proclaims himself an extremist, but told CNN he is part of the solution to stopping terrorist attacks, not part of the problem.

He complained that moderate Muslims and the government are out of touch with Muslim youth.

Jordan to seek Qatada's extradition

Meanwhile, Jordan said it plans to seek the extradition of cleric Abu Qatada from Britain on terrorism charges

The move comes a day after Britain announced it had detained 10 foreign nationals who it said were a threat to national security and that it planned to deport them. (Full story)

Qatada, described as al Qaeda's spiritual ambassador in Europe, is believed to be among the 10, UK media reports said.

Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yirfas told The Associated Press his country will make the extradition request verbally to the British Embassy in Amman, followed by a written request.

"We will contact the British government after the weekend to seek his extradition to Jordan," Yirfas told AP.

Yirfas said Qatada would be "retried under a Jordanian law which allows persons convicted and sentenced in absentia the right to retrial once captured."

Qatada, 44, has been in Britain since 1993, arriving as a political refugee after fleeing Jordan, where he was later convicted in absentia and sentenced to death. Some reports at the time said the sentence was life.

Described in media reports as both a Palestinian and a Syrian national, Qatada also uses the aliases of Omar Mohammed Othman and Omar Abu Omar. (Full story)

A father of five, Qatada has been the subject of a control order at his London home.

Thursday's detentions follow the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Jordan ensuring deportees would not be mistreated on their return. (Full story)

Prime Minister Tony Blair also had "constructive conversations" with authorities in Algeria and Lebanon last week over guaranteeing the safety of deportees. In all, Britain is looking for assurances from 10 countries, a Home Office spokeswoman told PA.

As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, Britain is not allowed to deport people to a country where they may face torture or death.

In a statement Thursday, Britain's interior minister, Home Secretary Charles Clarke, said the presence of the 10 individuals was "not conducive to the public good."

The action follows two sets of terrorist attacks in London last month that killed 52 people and four suicide bombers.

Last week, Blair announced new measures to deport and exclude from Britain anyone advocating hatred and violence.

Blair said human rights law would be amended if necessary to counter Islamic extremists. The government also plans to draw up a list of extremist Web sites, book shops and organizations that promote extremism, he said.