Key events since the radical preacher described as al-Qaida's spiritual leader in Europe arrived in the UK 15 years ago
September 1993
Abu Qatada arrives with his family in the UK on a forged United Arab Emirates passport. A year later he is granted asylum and is permitted to remain for an initial period of four years.
March 1995
The preacher issues a fatwa saying it is justified to both kill Muslims who renounce their faith and kill their families.
April 1999
A court in Jordan convicts Qatada, in his absence, of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in the country.
October 1999
Makes a speech in London that advocates the killing of Jews and praises attacks on Americans.
December 2001
Qatada goes into hiding as laws are passed allowing terror suspects to be detained without charge or trial. After 10 months on the run, he is traced to a council house in south London and taken to Belmarsh prison.
April 2002
Police in Germany find recordings of some of his radical sermons in a home used by some of the September 11 attackers.
March 2005
Qatada is freed on bail under a control order that limits his movements. Five months later he is returned to custody pending extradition to Jordan.
December 2005
In a video statement recorded in jail, he calls on the kidnappers of British peace activist Norman Kember to release their hostage. His appeal is broadcast throughout the Middle East.
April 2008
Three appeal court judges halt his deportation to Jordan, ruling that his 1999 conviction for terrorism was based on evidence extracted through torture. The court rejects as insufficient a "no torture" guarantee from the Jordanian government.
June 2008
Qatada is released from jail under unprecedented bail conditions, including that he remains in his west London home and does not use the internet and telephone, or meet with named terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
November 2008
He is arrested after allegedly breaching his bail conditions. At a subsequent hearing, a Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) panel is told that Qatada had been plotting to flee the UK.
December 2008
The SIAC panel rules that Qatada should be returned to prison for breaching the bail conditions.
February 2009
The law lords rule that Qatada can be deported to Jordan. The judgment backs a Home Office challenge against the April 2008 court of appeal ruling that Qatada could not be deported because he might not receive fair treatment in Jordan where, he claimed, evidence against him was extracted by torture.
June 2009
The European court of justice rules Qatada's assets were unlawfully frozen across Europe when he was added to a UN sanctions blacklist in the wake of 9/11. UK ministers subsequently introduced emergency legislation to ensure bank accounts of terror suspects, including Qatada, remain frozen.
August 2011
The chief inspector of prisons raises concerns over a group of national security detainees, believed to include Qatada, saying they are isolated and in legal limbo.
January 2012
The European court of human rights blocks the deportation of Qatada to Jordan because of the risk of him being put on trial based on torture-tainted evidence.
February 2012
The special immigration appeals commission frees Qatada on strict bail conditions. David Cameron and the home secretary, Theresa May, begin pushing for a deportation deal with Jordan.
March 2012
May visits Jordan in an attempt to get guarantees that any future trial will not be tainted by evidence gained under torture.
April 2012
Qatada is arrested at his London address and told a fresh attempt is to be made to deport him. But the deportation is halted by the European court of human rights less than 24 hours after it was ordered by the home secretary after Qatada's lawyers lodge an 11th-hour appeal. May had ordered Qatada's arrest in the belief that the three-month deadline for appeals to be lodged against the original Strasbourg ruling on the case, on 17 January, had already passed.
May 2012
Judges at the European court of human rights reject Qatada's appeal to the Strasbourg court. Later in the month, he is denied bail by the special immigration appeals commission, in London, after Mr Justice Mitting says the security and intelligence services would lack the resources to deal with a potential escape attempt by him during the Olympics.
July 2012
Two high court judges dismiss Qatada's application for judicial review and a writ of habeas corpus.
November 2012
Qatada is released from Long Lartin high-security prison after winning a legal challenge against being sent back to Jordan. Mitting and the two other senior judges allow his appeal on the basis that a real risk remains that Qatada would face a trial based on evidence obtained through torture, despite assurances obtained from the Jordanian authorities by the home secretary. The radical cleric is released on an electronic tag under a 16-hour curfew lasting between 4pm and 8am, and under severe restrictions as to whom he may meet.
March 2013
Qatada is arrested after allegedly breaching his bail conditions.
Later in the month, three appeal court judges reject May's latest attempt to deport Qatada, reminding her that "torture is universally abhorred as an evil", and states cannot expel someone where there is a real risk that they will face a trial based on evidence obtained by torture.
April 2013
The court of appeal turns down May's attempt to take the case to the supreme court.
May said she had signed "fair trial guarantees" with Jordan that she believed would reassure courts that torture evidence would not be used against Qatada. May said she believed the treaty would give the government "every chance of succeeding" in its aim to deport Qatada to Jordan.