LONDON, Aug 12: Britain barred hard line Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed on Friday from returning to the country, part of a government crackdown on Islamic preachers it fears inspire bombers such as those who attacked London in July.

Syrian-born Bakri, 46, left Britain for Lebanon on Saturday, saying he was going on holiday, after Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to silence Islamists who glorify violence.

Bakri was detained for questioning in Beirut on Thursday and judicial sources said on Friday a Lebanese prosecutor had ordered his release.

“We don’t feel he’s conducive to the public good,” said a Home Office spokeswoman. Family members — including his wife, children and grandchildren — were free to remain, she added.

Jordan said on Friday it had not yet decided whether to ask Britain to extradite Qatada, sentenced in his absence to life imprisonment by an Amman court for a 1998 terrorist plot.

The government this week signed an agreement with Jordan that London says will protect deportees from ill-treatment. It is seeking similar agreements with countries such as Algeria and Lebanon but rights campaigners say the assurances are worthless.

Some of Blair’s anti-terrorism measures have angered civil liberties campaigners who fear they erode human rights and renege on international human rights commitments.

Blair has said he will override human rights laws if necessary in order to deport foreign nationals.

Senior government minister Lord Charles Falconer said Britain may reform laws to compel judges to give national security equal weight to human rights in deportation cases.

Judges have thwarted past government efforts to deport foreign nationals.—Reuters