LONDON (AP) — Britain’s High Court cleared the way Thursday for the extradition of a mentally ill terrorism suspect to the United States.
The decision means that Haroon Aswat can face trial on conspiracy charges in the U.S. He is accused there of conspiring with radical cleric Mustafa Kamel Mustafa — also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri — to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, over a decade ago.
A European court ruled last year he could not be extradited because of his mental condition. He has been treated in a secure psychiatric hospital for paranoid schizophrenia.
The British judges had sought assurances from U.S. officials that Aswat would still receive treatment for his condition. Two judges said Thursday they were satisfied with the U.S. response.
Prosecutors have linked Aswat to Mustafa, long prominent in the British media because of his fiery sermons at London’s Finsbury Park Mosque. Mustafa was extradited nearly two years ago and convicted in New York in May of terrorism charges. He has not yet been sentenced.
Aswat, believed to be in his late 30s, had been fighting extradition since his arrest on a U.S. warrant in 2005. He is also expected to face trial in New York.
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