US judge orders terrorism suspect Abu Hamza remain in detention

A US judge ordered that radical Islamist cleric Abu Hamza, described by the US government as an al-Qaeda mastermind, be kept in detention after a brief court hearing on Saturday.

Hamza and four other terrorism suspects who were extradited overnight from Britain appeared in US court in the latest stage of a trans-Atlantic legal saga. All men except Hamza, who entered no plea, pleaded not guilty.

The one-eyed extremist, whose hook on the stump of his right arm and other prosthetic limbs were removed, did not speak at his hearing in New York, except for a few words muttered to his court-appointed lawyer.

Hamza, 54, faces terrorism charges over a 1998 kidnapping in Yemen, setting up a terrorist training camp in the United States and for “facilitating violent jihad” in Afghanistan. He will be formally charged on Tuesday.

Wearing a navy blue prisoner’s outfit, Hamza kept his head bowed during the hearing before US Magistrate Judge Frank Maas, who summarised the charges before him.

Sabrina Shroff, a lawyer for the cleric, requested he be given special shoes, without which “he will not be able to function in a civilized way” due to foot trouble, and requested medical care on account of his diabetes.

Appearing in the same New York court were Egyptian Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled Al-Fawwaz of Saudi Arabia, 50. They are both charged with conspiring with members of al-Qaeda to kill US nationals and attack US interests abroad.