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| Britain | |
| London: Terror suspect accused over 9-11 | |
| 2004-07-05 | |
| A Moroccan terror suspect will appear in court next week accused of plotting the September 11 atrocities. Farid Hilali, 35, was due to appear at Bow Street magistrates court in London, but prison officials failed to deliver him to court. It was understood to have been an oversight. Hilali was detained in the capital last week under a European arrest warrant from Spain. In April this year Spanish investigative judge Baltasar Garzon identified him as a 9/11 co-conspirator of Osama bin Laden. It is understood Hilali is not being accused by the Spanish authorities of involvement in the more recent Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people in March. The Spanish case is that he was linked to an al Qaida cell in Madrid which helped plan the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. Mohamad Atta, the lead suicide hijacker, and fellow suspect Ramzi Binalshibh, are alleged to have used Spain as a base during their final preparations. Voice experts have studied wire taps and now believe Hilali was the mystery caller who telephoned Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the alleged head of the Madrid al Qaida cell, on August 27, 2001, two weeks before the hijackings. The caller is alleged to have telephoned from London and claimed to have "entered the field of aviation" and to have talked of "cutting the bird’s throat", an apparent reference to the American eagle. Until April this year the caller had only been known to the Spanish authorities by the codename "Shakur", but Judge Garzon now believes he was Hilali. Hilali is believed to have first moved to Britain as long ago as 1987 and to have spent time since then in Germany and Afghanistan. He was already in custody in the UK after being arrested last year by Scotland Yard. British police did not charge him but he was being held on immigration offences when the Spanish extradition request arrived. He will appear via video link from Belmarsh jail in south east London for a remand hearing at Bow Street. A full extradition hearing, when details of the Spanish case against him are expected to be given, is scheduled for July 15.
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| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #1 Thank you Ananova for refering to the atrocities as atrocities. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-07-05 4:05:48 PM |