Britain re-arrested a radical cleric once described as Osama bin Laden's "right-hand man in Europe" and said on Tuesday it would resume plans to deport him to Jordan, where he has been convicted in his absence of involvement in terrorist plots.

Jordanian preacher Abu Qatada had been under virtual house arrest at his family home in London since February, when he was freed from a British prison after a court said his detention without trial was unlawful.

The court's decision followed a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in January that Qatada would not receive a fair trial in Jordan because evidence against him might have been obtained through the use of torture.

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Interior Minister Theresa May said reassurances from Jordan meant Britain could now proceed with his deportation and comply with the European court's ruling.

"British courts have found that Abu Qatada is a dangerous man. He is a risk to our national security and he should be deported to Jordan," May told parliament.

"I believe the assurances and the information we have gathered will mean we can soon put Qatada on a plane and get him out of our country for good."

Under the deal struck with Jordan, May said, Qatada would be tried by a court used to hearing criminal cases and not a quasi-military body, the case would be heard in public with civilian judges, and his conviction in absentia would be quashed.

His two co-accused have received pardons and can give evidence against him freely without any fear for their safety, she said, and changes to the Jordanian constitution now banned the use of testimony obtained using torture.

Lawyers for Qatada poured scorn on the assurances and said they would appeal against the deportation.

"The Secretary of State (May) is clutching at straws," defense lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told a bail hearing for Qatada.

Britain has been trying to deport Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, for more than a decade and his case has become an important test of how Britain treats foreign suspects accused of having links with groups such as al-Qaida.

It has embarrassed the British government and prompted calls from politicians to defy the European court and deport the cleric before London hosts the Olympic Games in July and August.

Britain says videotapes of his sermons were found in a German apartment used by three of the men who carried out al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Qatada, a father of five, denies belonging to al-Qaida.

A court in Jordan found him guilty in absentia of involvement in two bomb plots and a senior British judge has described him as a "truly dangerous" supporter of radical Islamist groups.

Bin Laden's 'right-hand man'
He was described as bin Laden's "right-hand man in Europe" by Spanish high court judge and human rights investigator Baltasar Garzon in 2004 after 191 people were killed by bombs put on board commuter trains in Madrid by Islamist militants.

"I know that many honorable members are frustrated by Strasbourg's ruling and by the time it is taking to deport him. I share their frustration entirely," said May, who traveled to Jordan in March to seek an agreement to allow deportation.

"With the assurances we have received we can have confidence in our eventual success."

Qatada appeared in the dock at a specialist court in the basement of a judicial building in central London, where he heard the government wanted to send him home by April 30.

Video: Al-Qaida’s senior man in Europe freed

The judge refused Qatada bail, saying the possibility of imminent deportation meant the risk he would abscond had "significantly increased."

He said he would review this in two or three weeks if the deportation process was delayed. Until then Qatada was to be held at the high-security Belmarsh prison in London.

If Qatada is granted an appeal it will not be heard until October and May herself admitted it could be many months before he left Britain.

Al-Qaida warned Britain last week against sending Qatada to Jordan, saying in a statement on an Islamist website that such a move would open the "door of evil" for the British government and its people.

Qatada was born in 1960 near Bethlehem, then part of Jordan and now of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Never formally charged with an offense, he has been in and out of custody since he was first detained under British anti-terrorism laws in 2002.

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After six years behind bars, Abu Qatada, al-Qaida’s most senior man in Europe, was released on bail from a high security English prison on Monday, triggering uproar among British officials who say he should stay imprisoned.

The European Court of Human Rights told Britain to release Qatada because he had not been charged. The court said his detention was unlawful.

The 51-year-old extremist preacher is believed to have inspired several al-Qaida attacks, including those on the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. Videos of his lectures were found in the hijackers’ apartments.

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British Prime Minister David Cameron passionately decried the ruling, saying, “We are doing everything we can do to get this man out of the country.”

The human rights court will not allow Britain to extradite Qatada to Jordan, where he is wanted on terrorism charges, because the court believes the Jordanians would torture him for information.

“This has put the British government in a very tough position,” said Michael Leiter, NBC News’ counter-terrorism analyst. “It has highlighted the inherent tension of the European Court of Human Rights making a decision that is contrary to the professional views of the British security services.”

Six other men connected with al-Qaida may be freed from British prisons because of the court ruling. Among them, Abu Hamza, a radical Muslim cleric, is currently fighting extradition to the U.S.  

The debate over whether the men should be freed comes just in time  for the UK’s biggest security challenge ever: the Olympics.

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An extremist cleric described as one of Europe's leading al-Qaida operatives should not be deported to Jordan to face trial because of the risk that evidence obtained through torture would be used against him, Europe's highest court ruled Tuesday.

After a six-year legal battle, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that deporting Abu Qatada from Britain — where he is in prison custody — would "give rise to a flagrant denial of justice."

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The move means that within days Qatada could apply for bail to be released from the maximum security prison where he is being kept, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Abu Qatada — whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman — is an extremist Muslim preacher from Jordan who has been described by European courts as a leading al-Qaida figure in Europe.

A Palestinian-Jordanian citizen, Abu Qatada arrived in Britain in 1993 and was detained in 2002 under anti-terrorism laws which at the time allowed suspected terrorists to be held in jail without charge.

Though Abu Qatada was released in 2005, when the unpopular law was overturned, he was kept under surveillance and arrested again within months, to be held pending his deportation to face terrorism charges in Jordan.

While living in Britain, he was convicted in his absence in Jordan of terrorist offenses related to two alleged bomb plots.

Never faced UK charges
Although Abu Qatada has never faced criminal charges in Britain, authorities in the U.K. have accused him of advising militants and raising money for terrorist attacks. He "is a leading spiritual advisor with extensive links to, and influence over, extreme Islamists in the U.K. and overseas," prosecutors told a British court in 2007.

Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May said the U.K. would consider appealing the European court's decision. It has a three-month window in which to make any appeal, the court said.

"I am disappointed that the court has made this ruling," May said in a statement. "This is not the end of the road, and we will now consider all the legal options available to us."

Abu Qatada will remain held in British prison custody while a decision is made, she said.

May has not specified what Britain would do if it loses any appeal, though it is likely Abu Qatada would be freed from prison and monitored under a surveillance program which requires those suspected of involvement in terorrism — but not charged with any crime — to abide by a curfew and wear an electronic anklet.

Britain's Special Immigration Appeals Commission has previously been told Abu Qatada was also suspected of links to a bomb plot in Strasbourg, France, and to the raising of funds for terrorism in Chechnya.

In their ruling, the European judges based in Strasbourg said they did not accept Abu Qatada's claims that he would face ill treatment or torture at the hands of Jordanian authorities if sent there for trial, citing recent agreements between Jordan and the U.K.

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But the judges warned that evidence in his case had been obtained by torturing his co-accused.

"The court found that torture was widespread in Jordan, as was the use of torture evidence by the Jordanian courts," the ruling said. "In relation to each of the two terrorist conspiracies ... the evidence of his involvement had been obtained by torturing one of his co-defendants."

Judges said evidence obtained through torture was illegal under international law and was also unreliable. The ruling said "there was a high probability that the incriminating evidence would be admitted ... and that it would be of considerable, perhaps decisive, importance."

Britain's highest court had ruled in 2009 that Abu Qatada should be deported to Jordan, despite fears over his potential mistreatment.

Human rights group Liberty urged the British government to make efforts to have Abu Qatada prosecuted in Britain.

"The case ... constitutes a damning indictment of the Jordanian criminal justice system where torture and evidence obtained by torture are completely commonplace," Shami Chakrabarti, the group's director, said in a statement. "So it is clear that, if Abu Qatada is to be tried for terrorism, this should happen in a British court without further delay."

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The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.