Posted on 07/15/2004 12:50:16 PM PDT by knighthawk
A Moroccan terror suspect held in Britain was part of the "commando group" who led the attack on September 11, a court has heard.
Farid Hilali, 35, was a British link to the al Qaida terrorists who carried out Osama bin Laden's orders to attack the US, Bow Street magistrates' court heard.
The court was also told of a wedding video of another of the commando group which included two of the suicide pilots on September 11.
Hilali has been held since last September under immigration offences but Spain has issued a European arrest warrant to extradite him for terror offences.
The Spanish case alleges he was linked to the centre pin of the al Qaida cell in Europe which helped plan the September 11 atrocity.
At the extradition hearing James Lewis QC, acting for the Kingdom of Spain, told the court of Hilali's involvement in the attacks.
He said the defendant had lived in the UK from 1987 to 1997 but then left, travelling to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was held in the United Arab Emirates in 1999 for using forged British documents. He returned to Spain, was deported to Morocco, and hid in a ship to Gibraltar before re-entering the UK in September 2000. While there he was in contact with Imad Eddin Bakakat Yarkas, described in court as the European "centre pin" for the attacks in the US.
Hilali made two telephone calls to Yarkas shortly before the September 11 outrages.
During the calls, the court heard Hilali told Yarkas: "He had a month to go and that he had some important matters to do... Everything was going to be fine... He had entered into the aviation sector...He had slit the throat of the bird" - believed to be a reference to the American eagle.
After the attacks Hilali told Yarkas where they talk about being "sick" - a code for being watched by police.
Ping
Bid to extradite terror suspect Jul 15 2004
A Moroccan terror suspect accused of plotting the September 11 atrocities will be appearing in court for an extradition hearing.
Farid Hilali, 35, is due to appear before magistrates in London after he was detained under a European arrest warrant from Spain.
In April this year Spanish investigative judge Baltasar Garzon identified him as a 9/11 co-conspirator of Osama bin Laden.
It is understood that Hilali is not being accused by the Spanish authorities of involvement in the more recent Madrid train bombings which killed 191 people in March this year.
The Spanish case is that he was linked to an al Qaida cell in Madrid which helped plan the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.
Mohamad Atta, the lead suicide hijacker, and fellow suspect Ramzi Binalshibh, are alleged to have used Spain as a base during their final preparations.
Voice experts have studied wire taps and now believe that Hilali was the mystery caller who telephoned Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, the alleged head of the Madrid al Qaida cell, on August 27, 2001, two weeks before the hijackings.
The caller is alleged to have telephoned from London and claimed to have "entered the field of aviation" and to have talked of "cutting the bird's throat", an apparent reference to the American eagle.
Until April this year the caller had only been known to the Spanish authorities by the codename "Shakur", but Judge Garzon now believes he was Hilali.
Hilali is believed to have first moved to Britain in 1987, and to have spent time since then in Germany and Afghanistan. He was already in custody in the UK after being arrested last year by Scotland Yard.
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200national/tm_objectid=14429237%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=bid%2dto%2dextradite%2dterror%2dsuspect-name_page.html
How long before the European media goes on a hunger strike insisting that they let this innocent man go...
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