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Ashcroft pleads his case in Norway US Attorney General John Ashcroft was granted a half-hour early Monday to discuss the war on terrorism with Norway's foreign minister. The fate of terror suspect Mullah Krekar was high on the agenda, even though Ashcroft refused to publicly mention Krekar by name. US Attorney General John Ashcroft (left) met briefly with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen in Oslo early Monday. PHOTO: JON HAUGE "The Americans are very, very concerned with Mullah Krekar," claimed Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen after his meeting with Ashcroft ended. While Norway supports anti-terrorist efforts, clear differences exist over...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court said Monday it had approved the extradition to the United States of two Yemeni citizens suspected of links to the al Qaeda network who were arrested in Frankfurt in January on a U.S. request. The men are Yemeni Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Mouyad and his assistant, Mohammed Moshen Yahya Zayed. U.S. authorities accuse the two of being al Qaeda supporters, but have not linked them directly with the September 11, 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States. U.S. officials accuse Sheikh Mohammed, a preacher at Al Ihsan Mosque, one of the...

European Union justice ministers have agreed a long-awaited extradition deal with the United States covering terrorism and organised crime. The agreement is part of the EU's response to the 11 September 2001 attacks, and will be signed at an EU-US summit in Washington on 25 June. It had been delayed for almost a year as EU officials sought and obtained the right to refuse extradition if a suspect faces the possibility of the death penalty in the US. European human rights groups have said the agreement is too vague and ambiguous. An accord allowing American and European police officers to...

Report: Sheikh Abu Hamza to appeal expulsion from UK Until his suspension by the Charity Commission last April, Sheikh Abu Hamza preached at Londond's notorious Finsbury Park mosque. Home Secretary David Blunkett then withdrew Hamza's British citizenship under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. But his solicitors, Arani & Co., have confirmed that he has launched an appeal against his deportation, the BBC reports. "Every right-minded person in Britain will be outraged at the thought of taxpayers' money being spent on Hamza's legal battle," British shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said. "He is a man who clearly has no...