UK court okays cleric extradition
Friday, November 16, 2007
A BRITISH court ruled yesterday that radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri could be extradited to the United States to face terrorism charges including trying to set up an al-Qaeda training camp in Oregon.
Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, serving a seven-year jail term in Britain for inciting his followers to murder non-believers, is wanted by US authorities on 11 charges.
The US indictment accuses Hamza — who had a hook in place of a missing hand — of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, from 1999 to early 2000, and also providing support to al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Hamza, who applauded the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, also faces charges that he was involved in plotting the seizure of 16 Western hostages in Yemen in 1998. Four of the hostages, three Britons and an Australian, were killed when Yemeni troops stormed the militants' hideout.
Hamza was quizzed at the time by police but was not charged and US said it had since obtained new evidence.Reuters
Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, serving a seven-year jail term in Britain for inciting his followers to murder non-believers, is wanted by US authorities on 11 charges.
The US indictment accuses Hamza — who had a hook in place of a missing hand — of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, from 1999 to early 2000, and also providing support to al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Hamza, who applauded the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, also faces charges that he was involved in plotting the seizure of 16 Western hostages in Yemen in 1998. Four of the hostages, three Britons and an Australian, were killed when Yemeni troops stormed the militants' hideout.
Hamza was quizzed at the time by police but was not charged and US said it had since obtained new evidence.Reuters
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