UK extradites Moroccan on Spanish terror charges

[Marcus Marulus]

UK extradites Moroccan on Spanish terror charges

REUTERS

Reuters North American News Service

Feb 08, 2008

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Britain extradited a Moroccan man to Spain on Friday to face charges related to the Madrid train bombings and other alleged terrorism offences, police and prosecutors said.

Lawyers for Farid Hilali, 39, fought for almost three years against his extradition but appeals were rejected and he was taken from the country on a military flight, police said.

Hilali was arrested in June 2004 on a European Union arrest warrant issued as part of an investigation by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon into the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

Spanish prosecutors also accuse Hilali of having links to Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, a Syrian-born al Qaeda cell leader who was convicted in Spain but then cleared on appeal of conspiracy in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Hilali was originally arrested in Britain in September 2003 for being an illegal immigrant. He was in custody awaiting an application for political asylum when he was arrested under the EU warrant.

Hilali's case has sparked commentary on the Internet because much of the evidence against him is based on transcripts of mobile phone conversations with Yarkas before September 2001.

Supporters of the Moroccan say the evidence is circumstantial and relies on whether a phrase used during one conversation was a form of militant code.

Hilali maintains it was a case of mistaken identity.

Spanish officials were not immediately available to comment on his extradition. (Reporting by Luke Baker; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)


Source: Reuters North American News Service

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