The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, London

Britain agreed on Thursday to extradite the radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri to the United States, where he faces terrorism charges linked to the setting up of an al Qaeda camp. The Home Office (interior ministry) ratified a court ruling of November 15, 2007, when a judge said there was nothing to prevent the Egyptian-born Hamza, 49, being sent to the United States to face justice. "This was a decision taken in the interests of justice," a Home Office spokesman said. Hamza has 14 days to appeal to the High Court. Hamza, who applauded the attacks on New York and Washington of September 11, 2001, also faces charges of involvement in plotting the seizure of 16 Western hostages in Yemen in 1998. Four of the hostages, three Britons and an Australian, were killed when Yemeni troops stormed the militants' hide-out. The U.S. indictment accuses Hamza -- who wears a hook in place of a missing hand -- of attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, from 1999 to early 2000, and also providing support to al Qaeda and the Taliban.