Britain Frees 2nd al Qaida Suspect

No wonder Britian is al Qaida central in Europe. Britain frees another al Qaida suspect, who is only known as "U". Each day Britain act more like Pakistan. Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - An Algerian accused by Britain of links to Osama bin Laden and bomb plots in the United States and France has been freed on bail after more than seven years in prison, a spokeswoman for a British tribunal said on Thursday.

The man, who under British legal restrictions can be identified only as "U", is the second senior militant suspect to be freed since mid-June.

While the government says they are dangerous, it lacks enough evidence to put them on trial in Britain and has so far failed in legal battles to get them deported, although its case to expel U is still going through the courts.

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U, aged 45, was arrested at London's Heathrow airport in February 2001 when attempting to fly to Saudi Arabia on a false passport.

In submissions to the special tribunal dealing with his case, the British government said that since 1996 he had been a "leading organizer and facilitator of terrorist activity aimed mainly at overseas targets".

It said he had direct links to Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures.

Ahmed Ressam, convicted of a plot to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium, was carrying U's phone number on him when he was arrested with 60 kg (130 lb) of explosives on the Canadian-U.S. border on December 14, 1999.

The United States sought U's extradition from Britain but withdrew the request in 2005 after Ressam ceased cooperating with prosecutors building a case against U.

Germany and France described U as the man who incited a December 2000 plot to bomb a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg. The two countries convicted four and 10 men, respectively, in connection with that conspiracy.

British authorities say U was a senior al Qaeda trainer in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

The special tribunal last year said he posed a "significant risk to national security" and had "shown no sign of disavowing his former beliefs or associates".