Another 'Al Qaeda linked' hate cleric uses human rights act to avoid deportation from UK

London - An Iraqi Muslim cleric suspected of being linked to Al Qaeda and radicalising young Britons is the second hate preacher who has used the Human Rights Act to continue to live in the UK, despite government efforts to deport him.

Taha Muhammad is considered as one of the UK's most dangerous security threats.

He was even banned from studying advanced subsidiary level chemistry because of fears that he might use the knowledge to commit terrorist acts.

The decision to let him stay is another setback for UK Home Secretary Theresa May, who is already under pressure after attempts to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan appear to be failing, The Daily Mail reports.

Muhammad says he cannot be deported to Iraq because he could be detained and tortured there, and argues that sending him back would be a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Muhammad went to Britain in 2002 and applied for asylum after claiming Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party had accused him of being a member of the opposing Muslim Brotherhood, so had detained and tortured him.

The Home Office refused his application for asylum, but granted him exceptional leave to remain until March 2006.

While living as an imam and leading prayers at a mosque, he become one of MI5's top terror suspects and in May 2006 was put under a control order, the paper said.

According to the paper, Muhammad, who is understood to be living with his partner and three children in Birmingham, has now changed his name.

He also vowed to sue the government over his treatment and is now poised to win a large compensation payout.