BRITAIN: A British terror suspect accused of running websites inciting murder and urging Muslims to fight a holy war yesterday lost the first round of his court battle against extradition to the US.
Home secretary Charles Clarke now has to decide whether Babar Ahmad should be sent to the US, which alleges he raised money via internet sites and e-mails to support terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan.
Lawyers for the 31-year-old, from Fountain Road, Tooting, south London, said he would be at risk of the death penalty if he was sent to the US and transferred to military jurisdiction.
But following a diplomatic note from the US embassy in London and prosecutor John Hardy's undertaking at a previous hearing, judge Timothy Workman decided yesterday that "none of the statutory bars apply" to refusing extradition.
He told the court: "I am therefore sending this case to the secretary of state for his decision as to whether the defendant should be extradited".