Hearing over Qatada's 'bail breach' (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Hearing over Qatada's 'bail breach'

1:13pm Saturday 9th March 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013

Radical preacher Abu Qatada will discover whether he must remain in custody after his arrest for allegedly breaching his bail conditions, days ahead of the Government's latest deportation bid in court.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) is due to hold an urgent telephone hearing to determine whether Qatada will be granted bail, a spokesman for the Judicial Office said.

UK Border Agency officials arrested Qatada on Friday, following raids by the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism unit. Searches at two residential homes and a business began on Thursday, while a search on a third property is ongoing, Scotland Yard said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the police investigation.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK Border Agency (UKBA) arrested a 52-year-old man from north London for alleged breaches of his bail conditions imposed by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)."

He added that the breach will be considered by SIAC at the earliest opportunity.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Searches at a residential addresses in north-west London, a residential address in west London and a business address are in north-west London have been completed. A search at a residential address in north-west London is ongoing."

The searches were carried out in connection with ongoing inquiries by the Counter Terrorism Command, he added.

Qatada, who has been convicted of terror charges in Jordan, is due to appear at the Court of Appeal on Monday for Home Secretary Theresa May's bid to overturn a judge's decision to allow him to stay in the UK.

Later, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had completed their searches of all four properties and no hazardous materials had been found.