British authorities can’t deport an Iraqi who has suspected terror ties to al Qaeda because he cited the nation’s Human Rights Act and claimed he would be tortured if forced back to his home nation.
The Iraqi — who can’t even be named because of Human Rights Act protections — allegedly met with six extremists in a mosque in England, as reported in The Mirror. He was monitored by British intelligence for a year because of suspected involvement with a known terrorist and radical cleric who was tied to three different Islamic militant groups, The Mirror reported.
The Iraqi, who is a Muslim from Mosul, has been trying to get asylum in Britain for years. He was unsuccessful — until recently, when a judge learned that he could face torture or execution at the hands of Iraqi authorities who knew of his affiliations with al Qaeda and with Sunni terrorists. Sending him home to such risk would violate his lawful rights, the judge said. So the Iraqi won stay in Britain, along with his wife, The Mirror reports.
British MI5 agents say the case proves the need for an overhaul of the Human Rights Act.
“This shows the Human Rights Act needs to be repealed,” one former intelligence officer said in The Mirror. “We can’t claim to be a sovereign country when foreign powers impose these sorts of laws upon our courts. This man could clearly be dangerous to the British public.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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