The long journey

Although the European Court of Human Rights frustrated their wish to deport the terrorist suspect Abu Qatada to Jordan, the prime minister and the home secretary naturally welcomed the decision of the court not to interfere with the extradition of five other Muslims—Abu Hamza, Babar Ahmed, Talha Ahsan, Khalid Al Awaz, and Abdel Bary—to the US.

However, the recent decision of the home secretary, relying on Art 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the US on charges of computer hacking is questionable. It is hard to believe this long awaited decision was not cynically delayed until after the five Muslims had been safely delivered into the hands of the US authorities, where they are now in custody awaiting trial. The disparity in treatment is too stark to be coincidental. The disparity is also highlighted by the abandonment of the extradition to the US of Richard O’Dwyer whom the US customs authorities wanted to face trial