Radical Islamist Fights Extradition to U.S.

He has no desire to hook up with American authorities.

The radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza today launched a High Court battle against extradition to the US to face terror charges.

He is wanted in the US for allegedly trying to set up an al Qaeda training camp in Oregon.

But his lawyers are arguing at London's High Court that extradition should be blocked because evidence gained by torture was being used against him.

They also contend that it would be "unjust and oppressive" to extradite because of the passage of time and it would be incompatible with his human rights.

The case before Sir Igor Judge and Mr Justice Sullivan is expected to last four days.

Abu Hamza al-Masri faces a total of 11 charges, including sending money and recruits to assist the Taliban and al Qaeda.

He is taking part in today's legal challenge via a video link from Belmarsh top security prison in south-east London.

London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that he could be extradited, and in February this year Home Secretary Jacqui Smith gave the final approval.

Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, from west London, who is fitted with hooks on both partially-amputated arms, is currently serving a seven-year jail term for inciting followers to murder non-believers.

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 in north London where was formerly the imam.

Some background on this maggot.

al-Masri to be Extradited to U.S.

Major seething to follow.

Islamic preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri is to be extradited to the US to face terror charges, the Home Office said.

The Egyptian-born preacher is currently serving a seven-year jail term in the UK for inciting murder and race hate.

The 49-year-old from west London is wanted by the American authorities on 11 charges.

Some background on this maggot.

Radical Muslim Cleric Will Be Extradited to U.S.

Let's just hope he's not waterboarded, otherwise the Democrats might wet their pants.

A British court ruled Thursday that radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri can be extradited to the United States, a member of al-Masri's defense team confirmed to CNN, though any final decision on extradition is still several months away.

Al-Masri's legal advisers said they were still exploring avenues of appeal, a process which could take months. Under British law, al-Masri must be allowed to exhaust his appeals before any extradition proceedings continue.

The British home secretary also has until the end of the cleric's current seven-year jail term to approve the extradition, though the Home Office said Secretary Jacqui Smith was expected to make a decision "shortly."

Al-Masri, who lost both hands and one eye working in Afghanistan, is the highest-profile radical Islamic figure in Britain.

Working in Afghanistan? Must have been one of those dreaded work accidents.

He formerly preached at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London. His followers included the so-called "shoe bomber" Richard Reid -- who was convicted of trying to light a bomb in his shoes on a trans-Atlantic flight -- and Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person to be charged in the United States in connection with the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The Egyptian-born cleric began serving a seven-year prison sentence last year after being convicted in a British court of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.

But he is also facing 11 terrorism-related charges in the United States, which has promised to press for his extradition when British law allows.

The U.S. charges include conspiracy in connection with a 1998 kidnapping in Yemen and conspiring with others to establish an Islamic jihad, or holy war, training camp in rural Oregon in 1999.

Terror Refuge: South Afristan

Jonathan Schanzer at the Weekly Standard takes a look at how al Qaeda is increasingly using South Africa as a base of operations, and meeting very little resistance.

According to one reported U.S. intelligence estimate, al Qaeda leaders are operating throughout South Africa. Other reports indicate that terrorists are exploiting the country's banking system, and that South African passports are finding their way to al Qaeda operatives worldwide.

It is only natural, then, that South African jihadists are popping up in terrorist hotspots. In July 2004, Pakistani police arrested two South Africans--Feroz Ibrahim and Zubair Ismail--along with Khalfan Ghailani, who was on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in the 1998 embassy
bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the pair was plotting to attack the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the parliament complex in Pretoria, and several other high-profile targets in South Africa.

Another South African, Haroon Aswat, was tied to the July 7, 2005, London mass transit bombings. After the attacks, Zambian officials detained Aswat, who reportedly had exchanged a spate of phone calls with each of the four suicide bombers before they carried out their deadly attacks. Further research reveals that in the 1990s, Aswat was an assistant to London-based Abu Hamza al-Masri, a one-eyed, one-handed terrorist ideologue tied to al Qaeda groups in Yemen and Algeria. Aswat worked with al-Masri at the radical Finsbury Park Mosque, where a number of other terrorists received their training, including shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Read the whole thing.

The government in Pretoria is not our friend.