Extradition review of terror suspect

A London court postponed making a decision on the extradition to Spain of a suspected Islamic radical believed to have played a role in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 192 people.

The man wanted by Spain for trial is Syrian-born naturalized Spanish citizen Moutaz Almallah Dabas.
The court had been expected to rule on an appeal by the terror suspect, who alleged that he faced detention without access to a lawyer and possible torture.

If the London court rejected his appeal, Dabas would still have the option of taking his case to the House of Lords, Britain's highest judicial authority.

Dabas filed his appeal on Nov. 23 2005, six days after Bow Street court Judge Anthony Evans authorized his extradition to Spain.

Evans rejected the arguments of Dabas's attorney, Mark Summers, who said, among other things, that the suspect might be held incommunicado and was "at risk" of abuse and torture should he be turned over to Spanish authorities.
The 39-year-old Dabas was arrested in Slough, in western London, on March 19, 2005, in response to a Europe-wide arrest warrant issued by Spanish National Court Judge Juan del Olmo.

Since his arrest, Dabas had been held at the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London, where terror suspects are detained.

According to the Spanish Interior Ministry, the Dabas brothers were in contact with some of the main suspects in the bombings of commuter trains in Madrid.

Spanish authorities also allege both were involved in recruiting radical Islamic youths in Spain for training abroad.
The investigation into the bombings had determined that 116 people were linked to the attacks, of whom 24 were in prison - one of whom, Rabei Osman Al Sayed, is in an Italian jail.

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