Abu Hamza arrives in the United States to face terror charges
Abu Hamza, the notorious hook-handed radical cleric, arrived in the United States early on Saturday to face terror charges after he was extradited from Britain along with four other suspects.
Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri
12:00PM BST 06 Oct 2012
The US attorney office in New York said Hamza was expected to face a judge in New York within 24 hours after civilian US jets flew him to America hours after he lost his long legal battle to stay in Britain.
He arrived at Westchester County Airport, New York State, at about 2.30am local time, and was taken to a lockup next to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan.
Hamza was expected to be briefly presented before US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas on Saturday before appearing at a longer court session on Tuesday where charges would be read to him.
Hamza, 54, a supporter of al Qaeda and former preacher at Finsbury Park mosque in North London, is wanted in the US on terrorism charges.
They include conspiring with Seattle men to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and helping abduct 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998. Three British tourists and an Australian were killed during a rescue attempt.
He has been in a British jail since 2004 on separate charges of inciting racial hatred and encouraging followers to kill non-Muslims. Khaled al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary, who were on the same flight as Hamza to New York, have been indicted with others, including Osama bin Laden, for their alleged roles in the bombings of two US embassies in east Africa in 1998.
They were also expected to appear before Judge Maas on Saturday. Al-Fawwaz, a Saudi citizen, faces more than 269 counts of murder. Two further suspects who were extradited on the same day as Hamza, appeared in court in Connecticut just hours after their arrival in America.
Syed Talha Ahsan, 33, and Babar Ahmad, 36, pled not guilty in federal court in New Haven, Conn. They were jailed until trial, and their lawyers declined to comment. Authorities said the men were charged in Connecticut because an Internet service provider there was used to run websites that sought to raise cash, recruit fighters and seek equipment for terrorists, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda members.
The pair are both British citizens and from Tooting, South London. US attorney Preet Bharara called the extraditions “a watershed moment in our nation’s efforts to eradicate terrorism.” He added: “As is charged, these are men who were at the nerve centers of Al Qaeda’s acts of terror, and they caused blood to be shed, lives to be lost, and families to be shattered.”
"I am pleased the decision of the court meant that these men, who used every available opportunity to frustrate and delay the extradition process over many years, could finally be removed," Theresa May, the Home Secretary, said. "This government has co-operated fully with the courts and pressed at every stage to ensure this happened.
"We have worked tirelessly, alongside the US authorities, the police and the prison service, to put plans in place so that these men could be handed over within hours of the court's decision. It is right that these men, who are all accused of very serious offences, will finally face justice."
She added that there needed to be changes in the law to speed up the extradition process. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "absolutely delighted" that Abu Hamza had now been extradited. He said: "Like the rest of the public I'm sick to the back teeth of people who come here, threaten our country, who stay at vast expense to the taxpayer and we can't get rid of them.
"I'm delighted on this occasion we've managed to send this person off to a country where he will face justice." Mr Cameron said the Government must consider ways of stopping similar cases reoccurring. The men had made last-ditch challenges against removal from the UK which were rejected by two High Court judges in London on Friday.
The five terror suspects were transported from HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk in a police convoy which arrived at the base at about 10pm. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's extradition unit handed the men over to US officials before they were taken aboard two planes which left British soil just before midnight, Scotland Yard said.
