05 Oct 2012
A
Muslim radical preacher who turned a London Mosque into a training
ground for Islamic militants, Abu Hamza al-Masari, and four other men
are on their way to the United States to face trial on variety of
terrorism charges, British Media said.
The BBC reported the five men were put on a U.S military plane by Scotland extradition unit on Friday after a British high court refused to hear more appeals and ruled that the suspects must be extradited to US immediately.
The 11th hour application to stop the extradition was rejected by Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ouseley.
The five men have been involved in legal battles with British courts for more than a decade. Judge Thomas in his ruling said that there were no grounds for any further delay, noting that it was “in the interest of justice that those accused of very serious crimes, as each of these claimants is in these proceedings, are tried as quickly as possible as is consistent with the interests of justice.”
The main suspect, al-Masari is wanted by U.S government for his involvement in kidnapping 16 people including two Americans in Yemen in 1998 and holding them as hostages. The other four men face various charges including attempting to raise cash through a website and recruiting men to fight the international coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Al Masari’s lawyers told the judge that their client’s physical and mental health has deteriorated during the past few years and he suffers from chronic depression. Masari has only one hand and one eye, he has claimed that he lost both fighting the Soviet Union army during the Soviet-Afghanistan war.
The Human rights watch dogs have raised their concern over the extradition.
The BBC reported the five men were put on a U.S military plane by Scotland extradition unit on Friday after a British high court refused to hear more appeals and ruled that the suspects must be extradited to US immediately.
The 11th hour application to stop the extradition was rejected by Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ouseley.
The five men have been involved in legal battles with British courts for more than a decade. Judge Thomas in his ruling said that there were no grounds for any further delay, noting that it was “in the interest of justice that those accused of very serious crimes, as each of these claimants is in these proceedings, are tried as quickly as possible as is consistent with the interests of justice.”
The main suspect, al-Masari is wanted by U.S government for his involvement in kidnapping 16 people including two Americans in Yemen in 1998 and holding them as hostages. The other four men face various charges including attempting to raise cash through a website and recruiting men to fight the international coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Al Masari’s lawyers told the judge that their client’s physical and mental health has deteriorated during the past few years and he suffers from chronic depression. Masari has only one hand and one eye, he has claimed that he lost both fighting the Soviet Union army during the Soviet-Afghanistan war.
The Human rights watch dogs have raised their concern over the extradition.
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