Extradition of London bombing suspect 'to take weeks'

The extradition of a suspect sought by British authorities for the botched July 21 bombings in London is likely to take weeks, an Italian prosecutor said today.

Pietro Saviotti, one of the prosecutors working on the case of Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, said Italian magistrates were looking into possible crimes committed in Italy, but dismissed fears these investigations could block Issac’s extradition.

“The process for extradition is in course and at the same time we are carrying out careful checks to verify any possible crimes committed in our state,” Saviotti told state radio RAI. “I believe these two requirements are perfectly compatible.”

“I would not say we are talking about days, but about weeks before Issac can be extradited,” Saviotti said.

Issac was arrested on Friday in Rome, shortly after his arrival from Britain, where he had lived for almost a decade.

On Monday, an Italian judge charged him with association with the aim of international terrorism, after a separate judge had confirmed his arrest under the extradition request.

“For the moment I see the needs of the judicial system in Britain, where the crimes committed are the most serious, as being dominant,” Saviotti said.

“If more specific criminal associations in Italy were to emerge we would deal with them at that point,” Saviotti said.

Britain has accused the 27-year-old of attempting to bomb the Shepherd’s Bush underground station, one of four failed bombings in London on July 21. His lawyer has suggested repeatedly that Issac will fight extradition.

Britain is seeking Issac’s extradition under the newly-introduced European Union arrest warrant, which aims to close cross-border legal loopholes that suspected terrorists or other criminals could use to escape justice.

The EU warrant reduces the amount of time Italian authorities have to decide on extradition from a year to 60 days following the date of arrest. An additional 30 days may be granted in some cases.

Carlo De Stefano, chief of Italy’s anti-terror police, said the investigation so far indicated Issac was “part of a loosely knit group rather than a well structured group” and that no evidence had emerged linking him to ongoing terrorism investigations in Italy.

But Italian news reports said Rome magistrates wanted to examine possible links between Issac and the cell that carried out the July 7 suicide attacks in London, in which one of the 56 people killed was an Italian woman.