US trial for Osama's London aide
The man identified by the FBI as Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant in Britain is to be extradited to America after a three-year legal battle costing more than £1 million, the House of Lords ruled today.
London-based Saudi businessman Khalid al Fawwaz, 37, faces trial on charges of conspiring with Bin Laden to carry out the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Two other suspected al Qaeda terrorists, Egyptians Adel Abdul Bary, 41, and Ibrahim Eidarous, 44, who have previously been granted asylum in the UK, also had their appeals against extradition rejected.
They face similar conspiracy charges in respect of the outrages, which killed more than 200 people and injured 4,000.
US prosecutors allege that Al Fawwaz travelled the world organising attacks and bought Bin Laden the satellite telephone-which allowed him to control his Al Qaeda network from Afghanistan. He later moved to England, living with his wife and three children in Dollis Hill, north London.
Al Fawwaz and his alleged co-conspirators claimed at their House of Lords hearing in October that the US had no right to seek their extradition because the crimes had not taken place in the US.
They also claimed the main evidence against them came from two anonymous witnesses which could not be challenged.
By the end of November al Fawwaz had been awarded £157,077 in legal aid, Abdul Bary £164,432 and Eidarous £107,416. More bills are expected.
