Who's Abu?(Abu Qatadah)(Brief Article)

Abu Qatadah, dubbed Osama bin Laden's "European ambassador" by the press, didn't live like a diplomat, sharing a shabby house in London with his wife and four children. He had been on welfare since 1994, until his benefits were frozen shortly after September 11.

Qatadah's alleged Qaeda connections have been tough for investigators to pin down. Jordanian officials insist he's responsible for bombings in 1997 and 1999, but admit their evidence might not stand up in a British court. Still, says one senior Jordanian intelligence officer, he's a criminal. So why hasn't London turned him over?

Up to now, London has rarely turned over anybody in this type of case. Since 1999 at least three suspected Qaeda members have been held in Britain awaiting extradition. But soon Qatadah could find his stay in Britain less than hospitable. New antiterrorism laws, expected to be passed this month, would allow the imprisonment, without trial, of suspected terrorists whose alleged crimes were committed abroad. Bad news for Qatadah. On Nov. 13 a Spanish indictment of Abu Dahdah, known head of a terrorist cell in Madrid, named Qatadah as the "spiritual head of the mujahedin in ...