Abu Hamza extradited to US after UK ruling

Radical preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other terror suspects were extradited from the U.K. after Britain's High Court ruled they had no more grounds for appeal in their yearlong battles to avoid facing charges in the United States.                   

Scotland Yard said Friday the suspects had been brought to an air force base in eastern England from Long Lartin Prison, where two planes provided by U.S. authorities were waiting to fly them to America. The aircraft took off shortly before midnight, Scotland Yard said.                         

The extraditions came just hours after a ruling at the High Court, where Judges John Thomas and Duncan Ouseley rejected last-ditch applications by al-Masri, Khaled al-Fawwaz, Babar Ahmad, Adel Abdul Bary and Syed Talha Ahsan, who have been battling extradition for between eight and 14 years.                  

Both British and European courts have ruled that they can be sent to the U.S. to face charges, but they sought last-minute injunctions from the High Court.                    

The suspects face a variety of charges stretching back several years. 

AP