Abu Hamza fights extradition

The health of radical Islamist preacher Abu Hamza has deteriorated, the High Court in London heard Tuesday, as he began a last-ditch legal bid to halt his extradition from Britain to the United States. The Egyptian-born cleric with a hook for a hand, and four other men were set to be sent to the United States after Europe's top rights court gave its green light last week, but are seeking to block their expulsion. To avoid extradition to a US high-security prison, Hamza and fellow terror suspects Khaled Al-Fawwaz, Syed Tahla Ahsan, Adel Abdul Bary and Babar Ahmad must prove there are "new and compelling" reasons not to send them. The British government said the case was a delaying tactic, describing the latest move as an "abuse of process" based on arguments that could have been made "many moons ago." Two senior judges hearing the pleas were told in papers lodged with the court that Hamza is seeking a temporary injunction pending a request for an MRI scan to be carried out due to his "deteriorating health". Alun Jones, a lawyer for 54-year-old Hamza, argues that there is "uncontradicted medical opinion that a scan is medically necessary" "If the applicant (Hamza) is unfit to plead, or arguably so, it will be argued that it would be oppressive to extradite him." The lawyer said a judge referred to Hamza's "very poor health" at an extradition hearing in 2008. Meanwhile, Edward Fitzgerald, the lawyer representing Fawwaz said that his client had publicly renounced Osama Bin Laden, after the al-Qaeda leader issued a fatwa against Americans, two years before his alleged involvement in the bombing of two US embassies in East Africa. He pointed to the existence of a diplomatic cable discussing whether Fawwaz should be removed from the US list of terror suspects. The Home Office has agreed to put any extradition on hold until midnight on Wednesday.