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Britain
Britain: Official bungle may let al-Qaeda suspect go free
2005-11-18
An alleged al-Qaeda ringleader may have to be freed after the Home Office accepted the blame for bungling his extradition to Italy. MPs are demanding that Charles Clarke explain how the Government took so long to deal with Farj Hassan Faraj that time ran out for the Italians to put the 24-year-old Libyan on trial for plotting bomb attacks in Europe. Mr Faraj is now being held here under immigration rules, but officials admit that they do not know what to do with him. Under EU rules he should be sent back to Milan, where he escaped arrest, but the Italians say that Britain’s failure to meet their three-year deadline means that they would have to free him.
Change the law. Remove any statute of limitations for terrorism and charge him.
Mr Faraj’s lawyers will fight any attempt to deport him to Libya, claiming that he would face torture.
By this point in the WoT, I regard that as a feature, not a bug...
This embarrassing episode comes as the Government’s extradition record is again under scrutiny after court rulings yesterday on two other terrorist suspects wanted by France and Spain. Judges ordered that both men be extradited, but the two are likely to appeal, which could cause a long delay. European leaders have condemned Britain’s handling of the extradition of terrorist suspects as “chaotic and clumsy”.
This is the elephant in the living room of the "apprehend the miscreants and bring them to justice" approach to the WoT. Not only has the beast pooped all over the living room, but it's gone pesth and it's goring people. To me it makes much more sense to turn the bastards over to the military for internment until the end of the WoT — "Two, three, many Gitmos"...
Ben Wallace, the Tory MP who forced ministers into accepting their mistake over Mr Faraj, said yesterday: “This Home Office blunder shows that we are failing in our war on terror because of incompetence at the highest level.”
I'd call it poor system design, myself...
The mix-up over Mr Faraj was disclosed in The Times last month. He has been described as the “European envoy” for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is blamed for many attacks on British and US targets in Iraq. He is alleged to be one of the first “sleepers” sent to Europe by al-Qaeda after being trained at a camp by Zarqawi. Six of his alleged gang were arrested in Milan but he fled to England in 2002 and claimed asylum. One of his group is said to have been heard discussing a plan that would lead to “400 people dead in a subway”. Mr Wallace, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, said: “The fact that one of the most important terror suspects in Europe with links to the bloody Abu al-Zarqawi could now go free makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s entire strategy and could ultimately put lives at risk.” Massimo Meroni, a senior Italian prosecutor, said: “The whole thing has been a waste and I’m surprised at Britain. This man is a big player in international terrorism.”

France is losing patience with Britain over the fate of Rachid Ramda, who has been fighting extradition to Paris for ten years. Mr Ramda, 35, is accused of taking part in bombings on the Paris Métro. Two High Court judges threw out yesterday his claim that moves to deport him are legally flawed. His lawyers are considering taking the case to the House of Lords, which will cause months of further delay.

In a separate case a judge ordered that Moutaz Almallah Dabas, 39, a Spaniard wanted for the bombings of Madrid commuter trains in March last year, should be extradited to Spain within ten days under Britain’s new fast-track extradition laws. The deadline is unlikely to be met as Señor Dabas’s lawyers are expected to appeal. He was arrested at his home in Slough, Berkshire, in March on a European extradition warrant 24 hours after Spanish police seized his brother, Mohannad, a Syrian, in Madrid. Britain has failed to extradite a major terrorist suspect since the September 11 attacks. Legal battles have cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million.
Posted by:ed

#6  I put this all down to Socialist individuals with ine the Home Office that refuse to extradite regardless of the facts.

This is why the Law nad Order apporoach to Terrorists can't and will not work. This is a war. Wars do not slow down for the molasified wheels of justice to turn.
Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom   2005-11-18 15:38  

#5  Arrgghh, "before" should be "when Europe was..."
Posted by: .com   2005-11-18 13:21  

#4  The restrictions on where people are deported because other nations have different laws - how long has this been an accepted "international norm"? Can anyone say?

I don't recall hearing this in "the good old days" (lol) before Europe was actually allied with the US.

It's a rather remarkable notion, when you ponder it, that defies sovereignty - and seems bizarre / PC amok, especially among "allied" democracies.

Just wondering if anyone can shed light on when this began...
Posted by: .com   2005-11-18 13:20  

#3  *snicker* Mr Faraj’s lawyers will fight any attempt to deport him to Libya, claiming that he would face torture.

Ahhh...that's too bad.
Posted by: 2b   2005-11-18 11:25  

#2  Britain has failed to extradite a major terrorist suspect since the September 11 attacks. Legal battles have cost the taxpayer an estimated £10 million.

Bungled is probably not the word for this situation.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-11-18 10:05  

#1  Return him to Italian airspace and release him.
Posted by: Glenmore   2005-11-18 09:53  

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