Britain said on Wednesday it had agreed to extradite a computer expert wanted by the United States to face terrorism charges, but the man’s family vowed to take the case to court to have the decision overthrown.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he had given his go-ahead for Babar Ahmad’s extradition after delaying a decision on the long-running case in July.
“There have been a couple of extensions in this case and having looked carefully at all the representations, the Home Secretary decided there aren’t any bars to this extradition,” a Home Office spokeswoman said.
Ahmad, 30, a British citizen, has been held in jail on a U.S. arrest warrant since August 2004. He is accused of running a Web site that raised funds for Muslim militants in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
“This decision should only come as a surprise to those who thought that there was still justice for Muslims in Britain,” Ahmad said in a statement from his cell in Woodhill high security prison in central England.
In May, a British court ruled he should be extradited, saying he would receive a fair trial after the U.S. embassy promised that he would not be sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba, or turned over to a third country for torture.
The case was then passed on to Clarke to sign off on his extradition.
Under new legislation introduced in 2003, the United States can seek extradition without having to present any evidence to a British court.
Vociferous support
However Ahmad’s supporters, who have waged a vociferous and determined campaign, have argued he should face trial in Britain if he has charges to answer.
Before he was arrested under the U.S. extradition request he had been held by British police but freed without charge, a sign, supporters say, that his case would not have been solid enough to convict him at home.
“This is a sad day for Britain and an even sadder day for British Muslims,” his campaign group said.
“If the floodgates for extradition are allowed to be opened, it will be British Muslims that will be targeted, the very people the British government was hoping to win support from in ‘the fight against terrorism’.”
His family said Ahmad, who ran as a candidate for parliament in May’s election to highlight his cause, would now appeal against Clarke’s decision at London’s High Court.
The Home Office said even if that appeal was unsuccessful, he could take his case to Britain’s highest court, the House of Lords, for a final decision, delaying the extradition by months.
