LONDON: Attempts to extradite the radical Muslim preacher Abu Hamza Al-Masri to the United States on terrorism charges were postponed Wednesday because of his appeal against a British conviction. The hook-handed, one-eyed former imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in north London is currently serving a seven-year jail term, imposed after being convicted of inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder in February. He is wanted in the United States over claims that he supported an alleged Al-Qaeda terrorist camp in the northwest U.S. state of Oregon and of involvement in the hostage-taking of Western tourists in Yemen in 1998. The 48-year-old, who was born in Egypt but is British by marriage, appeared at Bow Street Magistrates Court by video link from prison only to hear that the extradition case had now been put back until July 19. Lawyers for the U.S. government and Hamza made a joint application to reschedule the hearing by 28 days while his appeal here is heard. Hamza s lawyers claimed after his conviction that the case was politically motivated. If successful in its application, the U.S. government would have to wait until Hamza has completed his prison sentence in Britain before he can be tried in a U.S. court. AFP
Radical British Muslim cleric's extradition hearing postponed
