25 March 2012
Terror suspect's new home has more bedrooms, a bigger garden and more fittings His family are said to be 'delighted' at the move The 51-year-old had requested a move from previous home worth £400,000
Abu Qatada has been upgraded to a larger taxpayer-funded home since his release from jail last month, the Mail can reveal.
The terror suspect has told relatives in his native Jordan that he is the ‘happiest man in England’ after he was rehoused to the more expensive property.
His wife and five children are also said to be ‘delighted’ with the move, because their new home has more bedrooms, a bigger garden and more modern fittings.
Qatada, who was once described by a judge as ‘Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe’, asked to switch houses a week after being freed from Long Lartin jail in February.
The hate preacher had initially moved into a £400,000 home in Wembley, North London – organised by the local authority – where his family were said to be paying £1,900 a month rent which they funded through benefits.
But the 51-year-old requested a move after complaints from the property’s owner, who was furious to discover he had unwittingly allowed the cleric to become his tenant.
Qatada’s brother, Ibrahim Othman, said: ‘He told us they have now given him a very nice new place, bigger than the first house he went to after the British let him go.
‘He is really enjoying his new home and so are his family. The inside is very modern and has been done up more nicely, it has more bedrooms and a larger garden.
‘It is better for the family. They are all very happy in the larger house.
‘My brother cannot work so the British government fund his family to live there. The new house is costing more but he does not have to pay it because there is no way he can earn money.’
Mr Othman, 32, did not know exactly how much the rent was for the new home, which is also in Wembley. He said Qatada’s new neighbours are apparently clueless that one of Britain’s most reviled residents has moved in beside them.
‘My brother says nobody on their street seems to know that they have moved in. He likes that because there is so much hatred against him in England now.
‘He just wants to be happy with his family as he is at the moment. He wants the simple life. Right now he is the happiest man in England.’
Sibling: Qatada's brother Ibrahim Othman has said that the cleric is the 'happiest man in England'
Under the terms of his bail Qatada is allowed to leave the house for two hours a day, but his brother says he prefers to stay in the property. He fills his days reading Islamic texts and watching Islamic TV channels.
Qatada has also been keeping a close eye on the British media reports about him, his brother said.
‘He told me he is very unhappy with what has been written about him in the Daily Mail. He is far more pleased with the BBC which has been much more favourable about him in its coverage. That’s what he likes to see.’
In February, the BBC was accused of trying too hard to be politically correct after it emerged its journalists had been told not to describe Qatada as an extremist.
Bosses said he should be referred to as radical instead.
Qatada was born Omar Othman but, aged 19, gave himself the name Abu Qatada after an Islamic scholar he admired.
He was allowed to enter Britain in 1993 after travelling on a false United Arab Emirates passport.
He later claimed asylum, despite his family admitting there was no specific threat against him from the Jordanian authorities at that time.
If Qatada had stayed in Jordan, he and his family would likely still be living in his elderly parents’ house in a run-down district of the capital Amman.
Twenty people - including 14 children - currently share the decaying five bedroom family home.
They include Qatada’s parents, his three brothers and all their children.
Qatada is wanted in Jordan on terror charges, but his deportation from Britain was halted by European judges.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Qatada could not be sent home without assurances from Jordan that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.
The Home Secretary Theresa May travelled to Jordan this month to try to negotiate a deal that would allow Britain to deport him.
