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April 25, 2007
UK: Muslim 9/11 Suspect Is Freed By Court
News from Associsted Press via Pravda, Denver Post, CNN and also from Reuters and the Times:
Farid Hilali (pictured left) has been in prison in Britain for more than three years. He was the first person to be subjected to the new European Arrest Warrant in 2003, which had been issued from Spain on the orders of Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon.
38-year old Hilali, a Moroccan national, had been suspected of involvement in 9/11, mainly on account of his involvement with Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as Abu Dahdah (pictured below right). Yarkas was jailed on September 26, 2005 for a total of 27 years. He had been found guilty of conspiring to cause the attacks of 9/11 but the high court in Spain did not find him guilty of killing the 2,973 victims of 9/11. Yarkas was sentenced then to 12 years for leading a terrorist group, and 15 years for "conspiracy to commit murder".
However, on February 16, 2006 Yarkas had his sentence reduced by 15 years, after federal prosecutors recommended that the "conspiracy to commit murder" conviction should be waived. On June 1, 2006 this conviction was officially quashed by the Spanish Supreme Court. Yarkas' 12-year sentence for being a terrorist leader still stands.
Farid Hilali was arrested in south London in September 2003. He also claimed that he had been tortured by MI5 agents. In May last year, Hilali had lost his appeal against extradition to Spain. The extradition had been approved in June 2005. Intelligence agents had released recordings of phone conversations with Yarkas about plans to fly planes.
Hilali was called "Shakur" and the phone conversations with Yarkas had included references to "cutting the bird's throat", an apparent allusion to the American bald eagle. Hilali was heard to say that he had "entered the field of aviation".
Hilali's lawyer, veil-wearing Muddasar Arani (who has also represented Abu Hamza and other terrorists) said: "No explanation has been tendered, in spite of numerous requests by me and my firm, as to why the Spanish authorities have obstinately proceeded with a dud case."
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at April 25, 2007 2:24 PM
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