by Brigitte Dusseau
LONDON - A British judge granted bail Friday to a total of eight foreign terrorism suspects, including Muslim cleric Abu Qatada who has been dubbed Al-Qaeda`s "spiritual head" in Europe.
The release of the eight, plus another suspect Thursday, from high-security institutions comes days before existing anti-terror measures lapse and as the government tries to overcome fierce political resistance to enact new ones.
The men had been held on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities but had not been charged with any crime -- a situation deemed unlawful under human rights legislation last December by Britain`s highest court.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) released the nine under strict conditions -- including a 12-hour evening curfew, restrictions on who they can meet and on their access to mobile telephones and the Internet.
SIAC Judge Duncan Ouseley said Abu Qatada, a Palestinian cleric detained since October 2002, would also be prevented from preaching at mosques or leading prayers as part of the conditions for his release.
Like most of the others, Abu Qatada -- whose real name is Omar Othman -- had been held in south London`s Belmarsh prison, denounced as Britain`s "Guantanamo," the US-run prison on Cuba which has come under attack for abuses of prisoners.
Abu Qatada has been described by a British judge as a "truly dangerous individual" and according to reports has been linked by Spanish authorities to those behind the bomb attacks in Madrid a year ago Friday.
The only other of the foreign suspects who has been named is another Palestinian, Jordanian-born Mahmoud Abu Rideh, who was arrested in December 2001.
In January Abu Rideh became the first to be granted bail, after Ouseley ruled that his stints in British prisons and the psychiatric hospital had been "severely damaging" to his mental health.
But he had been held until Friday while conditions of his bail were being determined.
Two suspects identified only as "B" and "P" had also been detained along with Abu Rideh at the high-security Broadmoor psychiatric hospital in Berkshire, west of London.
The four other men granted bail Friday are suspects known only as "E", "H", "K" and "Q".
SIAC, which was set up to hear the cases of the detained foreign terrorism suspects, on Thursday placed an Algerian identified only as "A" under surveillance with an electronic tag, house curfew and other restrictions.
"A" was arrested in December 2001 and is suspected of having raised funds for the Algerian Islamist movement, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and for having provided satellite phones to Chechen rebels.
In addition to wearing an electronic tag, he was ordered to observe a 7:00 pm-7:00 am curfew and get prior approval from Britain`s Home Office before meeting people outside his home.
Police will be allowed to search his house, and the government will be allowed to restrict his visitors.
One man, known as "G", is already under house arrest, while another, "C", was freed earlier without conditions this year.
The bail conditions for many of them set resemble closely the "control orders" in the Prevention of Terrorism Act which the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair was trying to pass in parliament.
The men have been held under an anti-terrorism law -- adopted after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States -- that allows for foreigners who refuse to leave the country to be held indefinitely without charge.
However, after the Law Lords ruling in December, the law is due to expire on Monday.

03/11/2005 17:24 GMT