Qatada could be on plane on Sunday after extradition deal made law Qatada is wanted in Jordan to face terror charges and his removal will end a saga that has cost the taxpayer more than £4 million. It emerged last month that since 2005 the fanatic, who was once described by a judge as Osama bin Laden's right hand man in Europe, has been handed more than £600,000 in legal aid to fight deportation. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled Qatada that cannot be deported because he faces the risk that evidence obtained by torture may be used against him in a trial there - a decision upheld by the domestic courts. Since 2005, Qatada has received £865,000 in legal aid to challenge attempts to deport him through the courts. Just over £217,000 of that has been recovered from Qatada's assets but, when the cost of the government's own lawyers is included, the total legal bill stands at £1,716,306. That does not include the millions of pounds in security, detention and state benefits that have had to be met by the taxpayer. Public funds have also been used to provide monitoring of Qatada on the brief periods he has been released on bail - estimated at £100,000 a week - as well as for detention and benefits. His family has also changed their public-funded homes on at least three occasions.