Extradition Of Terror Suspects Founders

Bombings at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, above, and the embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, led to the arrest of three suspects in Britain a decade ago. Two are still in prison there; one died this year. (By Dave Caulkin -- Associated Press)

In February 1998, Fawwaz faxed a bin Laden fatwa to the al-Quds newsroom. The fatwa, or religious order, announced that al-Qaeda had declared war against "Crusaders and Jews" and that it was the duty of all Muslims to attack Americans and their allies around the world.

Fawwaz knew the statement would cause trouble and appeared shaken by the threat of violence, Atwan said. "He said, 'I disagree with this fatwa, but I have to go through with it,' " Atwan said.

U.S. officials, however, said Fawwaz's media work served as a cover for other activities. According to the U.S. indictment against Fawwaz, the London office played a key role in recruiting "military trainees" for al-Qaeda, served as a communications hub and gave logistical support to terrorist cells in Africa and Afghanistan.

Among other items, Fawwaz supplied bin Laden with a satellite phone that he used to keep in touch with operatives worldwide. According to U.S. officials, who intercepted many of the calls, bin Laden used the phone to contact Fawwaz and other associates in London more than 200 times.

"Fawwaz is a very close friend of bin Laden, a very, very close friend," said Coleman, the retired FBI agent. "He's a very committed guy who was playing on the edge. He was out there in the open playing a dangerous game, and he got caught."

On Aug. 7, 1998, al-Qaeda suicide bombers attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than 200 people. A few weeks later, the FBI developed leads connecting Fawwaz to the plot. Worried that he might try to flee Britain, Coleman said he woke up a U.S. judge at 3 a.m. to sign an international warrant for Fawwaz's arrest.

British police complied and told their American counterparts that they hoped Fawwaz would be extradited within three months, Coleman said. But it soon became clear that the case would take much longer.

Challenges and Delays

Fawwaz contested his extradition before a series of British courts, losing at each turn but appealing as far as he could go. His luck appeared to run out in December 2001, when the House of Lords, acting as Britain's appellate court of last resort, ruled that the British government had the authority to deport him.

The Lords also ruled that the government could extradite Abdel Bary and Ibrahim Eidarous, two Egyptians who worked closely with Fawwaz in London. Their fingerprints were discovered on a fax sent to news organizations asserting that al-Qaeda was responsible for the embassy bombings.

The British government, however, waited more than six years to act on the ruling as it weighed further challenges from defense lawyers and counterarguments from the U.S. government. Finally, on March 12 this year, British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith issued an order that Fawwaz and Abdel Bary be surrendered to U.S. officials (Eidarous died of leukemia in July while under house arrest in London).

Still, the extraditions are unlikely to happen anytime soon. Fawwaz and Abdel Bary have asked a judge to review the decision. An initial hearing is scheduled for February.

The Home Office's extradition section did not respond to a query seeking an explanation for the delays. A spokeswoman for the Home Office, speaking on the condition of anonymity according to government policy, said: "The case has been contested at all stages. It took considerable time to deal fairly and properly with all aspects of the representations."