Abu Hamza Doesn't want to go to States

Abu Hamza al Masri is trying to block his extradition to the US.

LONDON — An Islamic preacher accused of trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Oregon asked a British court on Wednesday to block his extradition to the United States.

Earlier this month, Britain's Home Office approved the extradition of Abu Hamza al-Masri, who once led London's Finsbury Park Mosque.

British counterterrorism officials say the mosque has attracted extremists. Its worshippers have included Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid.

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On Wednesday, al-Masri's lawyer, Muddassar Arani, filed an appeal in Britain's High Court. British courts should be allowed to examine the evidence in the U.S. case against her client before an extradition, she said.

The Egyptian-born al-Masri was arrested in Britain on an extradition warrant in 2004, but the process was put on hold while he stood trial here and appealed his convictions.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison for fomenting racial hatred and urging his followers to kill non-Muslims. If convicted in the U.S., Al-Masri would carry out his sentence in Britain first.

Al-Masri, 49, has one eye and hooks for hands, which he says were lost fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s.