Ammon News - Telegraph -Islamist preacher makes first appearance in Jordanian court on charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism in the country

Abu Qatada, the Islamist preacher, claimed on Tuesday that he had been "betrayed" over Britain's assurances that he would receive a fair trial in Jordan, as he appeared in court to face charges of terrorism in the country.

After more than 14 years spent on the run or making legal appeals against deportation from Britain, the 53-year-old insisted he was innocent as he attended Jordan's state security court for the first time to stand trial on charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism.

Dressed in brown prison trousers and jacket, Mr Qatada immediately accused the court of violating the treaty that set out the conditions of a fair trial for deportees, which finally secured his removal from Britain after an eight-year legal battle.

"This court is a betrayal of the agreement and I don't recognise it," said Qatada, from a black-painted cage in the corner of the court room.

Speaking in a hoarse voice, and wagging his finger at the judge's platform he said: "There is now a military judge – this is the first betrayal by you. I agreed to come back to Jordan voluntarily when I was promised I would be tried by civilian judges."

Ghazi Thuneibat, Mr Qatada's lawyer, said the new hearing was a shambles, claiming that the five-month wait for a trial following Mr Qatada's arrival in Jordan in July was another violation of the treaty, which calls for a prompt hearing.

Representatives from the Adaleh Centre for Human Rights, the body appointed by Britain and Jordan to monitor the implementation of the treaty were present at the hearing. A spokesman for the centre refused to comment. However, sources close to the centre said its members believed elements of the hearing "violated Abu Qatada's right to a free trial".

Qatada was convicted in absentia in 1999 for involvement in the bombing of the American School and the Jerusalem Hotel in Amman in 1998, and in a failed plan to detonate bombs targeting Western and Israeli targets during millennium celebrations in the year 2000.

Designed to satisfy the European Court of Human Rights, which had blocked previous deportation attempts, the agreements between Britain and Jordan guaranteed that Mr Qatada's trial would not include evidence that might have been obtained through torture. On Tuesday Ahmad al-Qatarneh, the chief of the court, cited claims from past defendants that Abu Qatada had "blessed" a plan to bomb the American school, where the bombers had "gone through the nursery to plant explosives".

The statement prompted an angry response from Mr Qatada's lawyer who claimed that those confessions might have been obtained through torture given the questionable human rights record of the Jordanian state security system.

Mr Thuneibat said: "I am asking you to release Abu Qatada without any conditions as there is no [usable] evidence against him".

Mr Qatada appeared relaxed and indifferent during the trial. He slouched against the bench with his hands in his pockets and made witty responses to the judges' questions. When asked his home address, Mr Qatada quipped: "in prison".

When asked about his treatment in Muwaqqer, the remote high-security facility where he is being detained, Mr Qatada said it was "better than Belmarsh prison in the UK". He also criticised the British media's coverage of his plight, saying "Arab news outlets are better".

On the day of Mr Qatada's deportation in July Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said that Britain had "bent over backwards" to establish guarantees that the cleric's trial would be fair. On Tuesday, however, a government spokesman put the onus of responsibility on Jordan. "The trial of Abu Qatada is a matter for the Jordanian judicial system," he said.