Radical cleric Abu Qatada denied UK bail request

By Sophie Kirby

LONDON (Reuters) - A radical Muslim cleric lost his latest legal bid on Tuesday to be freed from the British jail where he is being held pending attempts to deport him to Jordan to face terrorism charges.

The decision at London's High Court to refuse Abu Qatada bail will be a relief to the British government which feared his release during the Olympics would overburden security services and police stretched by their duties protecting the Games.

Abu Qatada's lawyers had challenged a judge's previous ruling that freeing the preacher at such a time would have been "exceptionally problematic" given the risk of him absconding.

Two judges at the High Court rejected their requests to review whether Abu Qatada's detention was legal and release him on bail.

Britain has been trying for more than a decade to deport the Jordanian cleric of Palestinian origin, once described by a Spanish judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe".

During that time Abu Qatada has spent nearly seven years in detention without charge, a period one of his lawyers said was so long that any continuation should be deemed unlawful.

Edward Fitzgerald told the court that Abu Qatada's deportation was unlikely to be imminent and that his case could drag on for at least another year.

"However great the risk, there becomes a point when it ceases to be lawful to maintain detention," he said.