Judge agrees to extradition of terror suspect

A judge has ruled that London terror suspect Babar Ahmad can be extradited to the US.

Mr Ahmad, 31, a computer expert from Tooting, is fighting extradition on five claims he used internet sites to incite murder of US servicemen in Afghanistan and elsewhere. At Bow Street today Judge Timothy Workman ruled the extradition can go ahead subject to approval by the Home Secretary, but said Mr Ahmad can appeal to the High Court.

The decision follows an undertaking by the US government not to seek the death penalty. The judge called the case "difficult and troubling".

He said that "if the evidence were available, [it] could have been prosecuted in this country." But the US was entitled to seek extradition under treaty terms "and I'm satisfied... none of the statutory bars apply."

Mr Ahmad won 685 votes in Brent North as a Peace & Progress candidate in the general election.