Human rights judges rule on Ahmad

Human rights judges will rule whether Briton Babar Ahmad - in prison without trial for nearly six years as part of the war on terror - can be extradited to America.

The 36-year-old computer expert has been on remand in jail and refused bail since his arrest in August 2004 on a US extradition warrant.

All appeals against being transferred have been rejected by UK courts, including the House of Lords.

But three years ago, Strasbourg judges ordered the Government to freeze proceedings while they considered whether extradition would breach his human rights.

London-born Mr Ahmad was originally arrested by anti-terrorist police at his Tooting home in December 2003. Officers were said to have been acting on suspicions that he was connected to al Qaida and was involved in a south London terrorist group.

He was released six days later without charge - but re-arrested eight months later at the US`s request to face charges related to running a website allegedly raising funds for Islamic extremists.

Refused bail since August 2004, Mr Ahmad made headlines in February 2008 when it was revealed that his conversations with Tooting MP Sadiq Khan during prison visits had been monitored by the police. An investigation found no wrongdoing.

Then in March last year Mr Ahmad won £60,000 in damages from Scotland Yard after police admitted "grave abuse tantamount to torture" during his first arrest in December 2003.

Now he hopes his extradition - approved by the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke in November 2005 - will be blocked by a Strasbourg ruling that sending him for trial in America would contravene the European Convention on Human Rights.

The charges against him in America include allegations that he ran US-registered websites from his home, recruiting fighters for jihad in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The indictment accuses him of conspiracy to provide material to support terrorist groups including the Taliban and the Chechen Mujahideen, and of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country. If proven, the charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.


(2010-07-08/UKPA )