Abu Qatada evidence 'extremely thin': British judge

LONDON (AFP) - Some of the evidence against terror suspect Abu Qatada is "extremely thin", a senior British judge said on Wednesday at the start of the radical cleric's appeal against extradition to Jordan.

Judge John Mitting made the comment at the start of a review of whether the 51-year-old would get a fair trial if he were deported to Jordan.

Abu Qatada, a Jordanian national, was convicted in his absence in Jordan in 1998 for involvement in terror attacks.

Britain is moving to send him to Jordan after Interior Minister Theresa May was given assurances by the Jordanian authorities that no evidence gained through torture would be used against him in a retrial on his return.