Hamza extradition case adjourned

Mr Abu Hamza injured his eye and hand in Afghanistan

A court hearing to decide whether radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri should be extradited to face US terrorism charges has been adjourned.

The charges were outlined at Belmarsh Magistrates' Court on Friday.

James Lewis QC said the London-based cleric sent a man to a training camp in Afghanistan, advised terrorists in Yemen and wrote to a Taleban official.

Mr Abu Hamza's lawyers argued he will not get a fair hearing in the US. The trial was adjourned until 19 October.

The extradition request is being processed under new fast-track procedures.

He has consistently advocated hatred and violence against the United States James Lewis, QC

James Lewis QC, representing the US, read out a sworn affidavit from FBI agent Michael Butsch who said Mr Abu Hamza, 46, had told his followers that "fighting is a duty for all Muslims".

Mr Abu Hamza also wrote a letter to a high-ranking Taleban member in Afghanistan introducing a would-be Jihad fighter, the court heard.

He is also accused of using a satellite phone to advise terrorists who took hostages in Yemen in 1998.

And he is accused of conspiring to create a quasi-military organisation in Oregon, in the US.

Lengthy process

Mr Lewis told the court: "Abu Hamza is a member of a global conspiracy to wage Jihad against the United States and other countries.

"He has consistently advocated hatred and violence against the United States of America, which he called the United Snakes of America."

It was the first hearing of a process that could take many months.

The district judge will now have to decide whether the alleged offences warrant extradition.

The home secretary would then decide whether to order one.

'Presumption of innocence'

The cleric appeared tired in court and his lawyers said he was feeling unwell.

Ed Fitzgerald, QC, representing Mr Hamza, said his client was investigated by British police in 1989 over the Yemeni hostage-taking and no charges had been brought.

He told the court that US prosecutors would be likely to rely on statements from a detainee at Guantanamo Bay and other evidence gained through "torture or inhuman or degrading treatment".

Mr Fitzgerald said his client's name was used in a presidential declaration of foreign terrorist suspects, which he said "violates the presumption of innocence".