Lawyer: Radical cleric Abu Qatada willing to leave UK if Jordan's parliament ratifies treaty

LONDON – The lawyer for Abu Qatada says he will voluntarily leave Britain, which has been trying to deport the radical Muslim preacher for more than a decade, and go to Jordan if a new treaty on torture is ratified there.

The British government last month said it had signed a new treaty with Jordan in a bid to ease human rights concerns preventing the deportation of the cleric, whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman.

Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said Friday the cleric will go to Jordan voluntarily if that treaty is ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

Successive British governments have tried since 2001 to remove him, but courts have blocked extradition over concerns that evidence obtained under torture could be used against him.