Two extradited terror suspects plead not guilty in U.S. court

PanARMENIAN.Net - Two terrorism suspects extradited from the UK to the U.S. on the same day as Islamist cleric Abu Hamza have pleaded not guilty in a court in Connecticut, BBC News reported.

Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan are both accused of conspiracy to support terrorists in Afghanistan and the Russian region of Chechnya.

The extradition of the three, along with two others, marked the end of a marathon court battle. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "sick" of people like Abu Hamza.

Ahmad and Ahsan were indicted in 2004 and 2006 respectively for allegedly using a website from a Connecticut-based internet service provider to raise money and recruit fighters.

They, Abu Hamza and two other men, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, left the UK from an RAF base on two flights, hours after the High Court rejected final appeals against their extradition.

Abu Hamza faces 11 charges in the U.S. relating to hostage-taking, conspiracy to establish a militant training camp and calling for holy war in Afghanistan. He is expected to appear before a federal court in Manhattan, New York, on Saturday, Oct 6.

Al-Fawwaz and Bary, who were also brought to New York, are accused of being aides to the late al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, in London.

Much of the media focus has been on Abu Hamza, whom the US first tried to extradite in 2004 on 11 charges, including a hostage-taking in Yemen in 1998 when four people were killed.