Britain arrests suspected Al Qaeda leader

British police have arrested an Islamic cleric whom authorities have alleged is an important figure in the European operations of the al Qaeda terrorist network, members of the Muslim community here said today.

Sheikh Omar Mahmood Abu Omar, a Jordanian-born Palestinian known as Abu Qatada, was detained Wednesday night under Britain's emergency terrorism act when police raided a house in south London where he had been hiding. He had disappeared last December just before the new set of anti-terrorism laws took effect giving police broad powers to detain indefinitely terrorist suspects who are not British citizens.

Investigators have described Qatada, 42, as a spiritual leader and recruiter for al Qaeda in Europe; he has denied any link to the organization. He is wanted for questioning in France, Spain, Italy and Germany and has been convicted in absentia of terrorism charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged role in a plot to bomb tourist sites and an American school.

Qatada is also reported to have conducted prayer meetings attended by Richard Reid, the British national who recently pleaded guilty to attempting to blow up an American Airlines jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, and Zacarias Moussaoui, who is charged with conspiracy relating to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Both men became radicalized while living in London.

British officials today confirmed they had detained a terrorism suspect, but refused to disclose his name, citing legal restrictions. But Muslims with close ties to Abu Qatada confirmed his arrest.

Anjem Choudary, the United Kingdom leader of al-Muhajiroun, a militant Muslim organization with links to Abu Qatada, called the detention "a case of the British government prostituting itself for the United States government by arresting an innocent person."

Andrew Dismore, a member of Parliament who specializes in terrorism matters, called it "a very important arrest. .‚.‚. He's one of the spiders at the very center of the al Qaeda web of terror in Europe."

French judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere has said he suspects Qatada has laundered money and planned and financing terrorist attacks throughout Europe. Baltasar Garzon, the judge overseeing Spain's anti-terrorism campaign, said Qatada had served as a contact between al Qaeda and a Spanish-based terrorism suspect, and with alleged terrorists in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium.

In Hamburg, German authorities reportedly found video cassettes with Qatada's religious teachings in the last known apartment of Mohamed Atta, a leader of the 19 hijackers.

Qatada was granted asylum in Britain in 1994 after fleeing Jordan. His travel documents were seized, his assets were frozen and his welfare payments of about $600 per week were suspended last October after it was alleged he had an unexplained $270,000 in his bank account. Qatada said he had collected the money for charitable causes, including payments to families of political prisoners in Arab states.

In interviews he has expressed admiration for al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, but has denied playing any role in terrorism. In an interview with a Washington Post reporter last October, he called himself "a simple teacher of Islam" with "a big mouth and a big belly."

His sudden disappearance in December led to reports--denied by British officials--that he was being held in secret by the authorities here or that he had turned informant.

It also touched off a row between European intelligence agencies, with officials in France, Italy and Spain accusing their British counterparts of being soft on terrorism to prevent Britain from being targeted. "If he was in France, he would already have been arrested," Bruguiere told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in June.

Qatada is the twelfth suspect to be detained under Britain's new terrorism act. Two of the detainees have voluntarily left Britain. The other nine received a legal setback today when their plea for release was rejected by an appeals court here. The prisoners, all of them Muslims, can attempt to appeal to the House of Lords.