Terror suspect Haroon Rashid Aswat extradited from UK to America
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Version 0 of 1. A British terror suspect, who is wanted in the US for allegedly conspiring with the Islamist extremist Abu Hamza, has been extradited from the UK. Haroon Rashid Aswat, from Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, is accused by the American authorities of having worked with Hamza, in 1999, to set up a jihadist training camp in Oregon. The home secretary, Theresa May, had been told, earlier in the year, to put extradition plans on hold after judges heard that Aswat, 40, was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. But last month two high court judges said they were satisfied with assurances given by American officials that the suspect would be cared for properly. Aswat, who was arrested at RAF Northolt on 7 August 2005 by officers of the extradition unit of the Met police, was taken from Broadmoor hospital to a British airport this morning and handed over to the US authorities. Hamza was extradited from Britain to America nearly two years ago and found guilty of terrorism charges in May after a trial in New York. The warrants issued on behalf of the US authorities allege that, between 1 October 1999 and 30 April 2000, Aswat conspired with others to control and manage people who would be employed for “the use or display of physical force in promoting a political object, namely to make hijrah to, and to fight jihad in, Afghanistan”. Aswat’s lawyers argued that he might suffer a relapse if held in an American jail pending a trial. And, at a high court hearing in April judges said they wanted assurances about the way he would be treated. After a hearing last month, a Home Office spokesman said: “We are pleased the court has upheld the home secretary’s decision to extradite Haroon Aswat to the United States. The court agreed that the American authorities had provided sufficient assurances over the conditions in which Aswat would be held in the US.” |