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| Britain |
| British Moroccan tied to 9/11 |
| 2004-07-15 |
| A Moroccan terror suspect being held in Britain and wanted by Spain on extradition charges was part of the commando group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks, a court in London heard on Thursday. Farid Hilali, 35, was a British link to the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out Osama bin Laden’s orders to attack the United States, the court was told. He was held in Britain last September under immigration offences but was re-arrested in June when Spain issued a European arrest warrant to extradite him for terror offences. The Spanish arrest warrant claims Hilali participated "in a commando (group) that is being trained on aircrafts, a few days before the attacks of 11 September, 2001", the court heard. Hilali, alias "Shakur", was one of 40 people - including in his absence al-Qaeda leader bin Laden himself - charged by Spanish anti-terrorist judge Baltazar Garzon as part of investigations into the extremist network in Spain. He lived in Britain from 1987 to 1997 before travelling to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, lawyer James Lewis, acting on behalf of Spain, told the court in London. Lewis said Hilali was held in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 for using forged British documents. He then returned to Spain, was deported to Morocco, and hid in a ship to Gibraltar before re-entering Britain in September 2000. There he made contact with Imad Eddin Bakakat Yarkas, described in court as the European "centre-pin" for the attacks in the United States. Hilali made two telephone calls to Yarkas shortly before the strikes on New York and Washington, the court heard. Judge Timothy Workman remanded the suspect in prison until a further hearing on July 29. The extradition case is expected to be decided some time in September. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 "was part of the commando group that led the September 11 terrorist attacks" Now they're commandos. Not terrorists, commandos. All part of the leftist double-speak intended to glorify who these rat bastards really are. But I forgot, George Bush is the terrorist, these brave lads are "commandos"... |
| Posted by: RMcLeod 2004-07-15 8:18:07 PM |