NEW YORK, Oct 06, (AFP) – Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza was due in court in the United States yesterday, officials said, in the next stage of a likely prolonged legal battle following his extradition from Britain. A saga that has dragged on for more than a decade in the courts of Britain and Europe [...]

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Islamist preacher Abu Hamza due in US court

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NEW YORK, Oct 06, (AFP) – Radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza was due in court in the United States yesterday, officials said, in the next stage of a likely prolonged legal battle following his extradition from Britain.

A saga that has dragged on for more than a decade in the courts of Britain and Europe entered a new phase when the Egyptian-born former imam was whisked from prison and flown out of a British military airbase late Friday.

A Department of Justice statement said Hamza would face terrorism charges over a kidnapping in 1998 in Yemen, the establishment of a terrorist training camp in the United States, and for “facilitating violent jihad in Afghanistan.”
“Abu Hamza will be presented today before US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas,” said Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the southern district of New York.

“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. “After years of protracted legal battles, the extradition of these three alleged terrorists to the United States is a watershed moment in our nation’s efforts to eradicate terrorism.”

Abu Hamza rose to prominence after giving fiery sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, but has been in prison in Britain for eight years after being convicted of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.

He will be formally arraigned on Tuesday, Bharara said, noting that the process “makes good on a promise to the American people to use every available diplomatic, legal, and administrative tool to pursue and prosecute charged terrorists no matter how long it takes.”

“Now, Abu Hamza, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz will finally face justice,” she added.




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