New York, Oct 7: Hours after he was extradited from the UK to face terrorism charges and a possible life sentence, one-eyed radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri made his first appearance in a US court, which ordered that he be held under detention till his formal arraignment on October 9.
54-year-old Egyptian-born Hamza, who faces charges like involvement in hostage-taking and conspiracy to set up an al-Qaeda-style militant training, arrived in New York yesterday along with two other terror suspects Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz on a chartered flight.
Two other suspects Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsa were flown in separately after the five men were extradited from the UK.
Hamza, Bary and Fawwaz had arrived at Westchester County Airport north of New York City in a Gulfstream V aircraft, the FBI said.
Fawwaz, 50, and Bary, 52, were arraigned before US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas at the District Court in Manhattan in a brief hearing during which both entered not guilty pleas through their defence lawyers.
Hamza, who is yet to enter his plea, did not speak at his first appearance yesterday at the same court, where he appeared before Maas separately after the hearing for Fawwaz and Bary.
Maas ordered that all three men be detained and they are scheduled to appear before federal judges in New York on October 9.
Wearing navy blue jail fatigues, Hamza did not have the hooks that he wears in place of his hands which he lost in injuries apparently sustained in Afghanistan.
Amid high security, authorities had temporarily removed Hamza's prosthetic limbs.
