Abu Qatada: Radical cleric's son arrested in Jordan
The Jordanian security authorities have arrested Qatada, eldest son of radical Salafist-Jihadist cleric Abu Qatada, over his online activity, al-Araby al-Jadeed has learned.
2 min read
Qatada Omar Othman (L) with leading Jordanian jihadist ideologist Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi in 2014 [Getty]
The Jordanian State Security Court, a military tribunal, arrested on Wednesday night Qatada Omar Othman, son of notorious salafist-jihadist cleric and ideologue Abu Qatada.
"They arrested him [my son] at 8:30 on Wednesday night, and took him to an undisclosed destination," Abu Qatada told al-Araby al-Jadeed's correspondent in Amman Mohammad Fadilat.
The Jordanian State Security Court arrested my son immediately after a Quran class," wrote Abu Qatada on his Facebook page a few minutes after the arrest had been made.
Abu Qatada said the Jordanian security services searched his house and took cameras belonging his son used to film religious classes.
It was not immediately clear what charges was Abu Qatada's arrested on, but relatives say it was on the back of religious classes he participated in via internet video chat platform Paltalk.
Qatada (23 years old), also known as Abu Abdullah Qatada, is active on jihadist forums online.
He also runs his father's social media and online presence.
Qatada is studying Islamic Sharia. He dropped out of engineering school after leaving Britain in 2013, when the British authorities handed his father over to the Jordanian authorities.
It is worth noting Qatada recently married a daughter of a former detainee in Guantamo Bay detention camp.
The radical Muslim Cleric Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, was found not guilty of terrorism charges after being deported to Jordan from the UK in 2013 to stand trial. "They arrested him [my son] at 8:30 on Wednesday night, and took him to an undisclosed destination," Abu Qatada told al-Araby al-Jadeed's correspondent in Amman Mohammad Fadilat.
The Jordanian State Security Court arrested my son immediately after a Quran class," wrote Abu Qatada on his Facebook page a few minutes after the arrest had been made.
Abu Qatada said the Jordanian security services searched his house and took cameras belonging his son used to film religious classes.
It was not immediately clear what charges was Abu Qatada's arrested on, but relatives say it was on the back of religious classes he participated in via internet video chat platform Paltalk.
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| Abu Qatada was cleared of terror charges [Getty] Read more: The 'emirs of Londonistan' and the alleged UK-jihadist collaboration |
Qatada (23 years old), also known as Abu Abdullah Qatada, is active on jihadist forums online.
He also runs his father's social media and online presence.
Qatada is studying Islamic Sharia. He dropped out of engineering school after leaving Britain in 2013, when the British authorities handed his father over to the Jordanian authorities.
It is worth noting Qatada recently married a daughter of a former detainee in Guantamo Bay detention camp.
Judges said there was insufficient evidence to convict him of charges related to a terrorist plot in 2000.
However, the British Home Office said at the time that he remained a threat to national security and would not be returning to the UK, where had been been granted asylum since June 1994.
Abu Qatada had a long history of justifying terrorist attacks and sympathising with terrorist groups. However, there were also allegations he collaborated with British intelligence services.
Jordan, thousands of whose citizens are fighting in the ranks of jihadist groups in neighbouring Syria and Iraq, has a complex relationship with jihadist groups.
Amman has largely sought to contain rather than confront salafist-jihadists, and often worked with them against more radical shades of jihadists, such as the Islamic State group (IS, formerly ISIS).
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