Abu Hamza to be extradited to the US
Posted: Fri 08 Feb, 2008 7:19 am
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 329990.eceExtradition to US for Abu Hamza al-Masri over terror accusations
Richard Ford and Fiona Hamilton
Abu Hamza al-Masri, the Islamic preacher, is to be extradited to the US to face terror charges, the Home Office announced last night.
The Egyptian-born cleric faces spending the rest of his life in an American prison if he fails in his appeal against the extradition order, which was signed yesterday by Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary.
Abu Hamza, 49, is serving a seven-year prison sentence at Woolwich, southeast London, for inciting murder and race hate.
The July 7 London bombers were inspired by his sermons and the would-be bombers of July 21 were regular worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque where was formerly the imam.
He is wanted in the US on 11 charges. Muddassar Arani, his lawyer, last night said that he would definitely be appealing the extradition decision. He has 14 days to do so. Ms Arani said: “There are some very serious issues that need to be considered.”
Abu Hamza is accused by the US of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and sending money and recruits to assist the Taleban and al-Qaeda.
The most serious charges allege that he assisted a gang of kidnappers in Yemen who abducted a party of Western tourists in 1998. Abu Hamza bought the kidnappers a satellite phone and allegedly gave them advice and assistance during the kidnap, in which four people, including three Britons, were shot dead.
Ms Arani claimed last night that evidence gained by torture was being used against her client. She said that he should face the charges in the UK as he would be denied human contact if he were held in a US supermax prison, which would be “inhuman and degrading treatment”.
She said: “We have standards in this country that will not be upheld if we extradite Abu Hamza, and whatever people think of him they should understand that.”
Abu Hamza, whose real name is Mostafa Kamel Mostafa, was the first person to be arrested under the streamlined Anglo-American extradition treaty when police raided his home in May 2004.
The Crown Prosecution Service delayed his extradition by insisting that he stand trial in Britain for incitement offences. He then won repeated postponements of his case on the grounds that he had ingrowing toenails, gangrenous infections and general ill-health.
Abu Hamza gained notoriety in Britain as imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London. In 2003 he was dismissed from his position after making speeches supporting al-Qaeda and speaking out against the invasion of Iraq.
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