Al-Qaeda suspect extradited from Britain to US

A Pakistan-born US national accused of supplying military equipment to Al-Qaeda was extradited to the United States, police have said.

Syed Hashmi, 27, now faces trial in the United States over allegations that he was a 'quartermaster' who supplied the terror network's operatives in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Syed Hashmi, an American national, has been extradited this evening from Gatwick airport to America," said a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police on Friday.

His lawyers had argued that any trial should take place in Britain and had no relevance to the United States. They also claimed that arrest warrants against him were flawed.

But at London's High Court in March, Lord Justice Scott Baker and Justice David Clarke said that this complaint was "without substance."

Hashmi, who was arrested at London Heathrow Airport last June as he boarded a flight to Pakistan, came to Britain on a student visa in 2003 and joined the Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun, which has now disbanded.

His extradition warrant alleged that he had received 'military gear' for use in committing terrorist acts between January and March 2004.

He was indicted by the United States District Court for the southern district of New York.

First Published: May 26, 2007 12:51 IST