(ANSA) - An August 17 date has been set for a hearing to extradition proceeding for Hamdi Issac, an Ethiopian who has admitted taking part in the attempted terror bombing attacks in London on July 21.
The date was set by Judge Domenico Miceli who on Wednesday said he had now received all the necessary paper work from British authorities. Earlier this week Miceli had dismayed British authorities by saying their extradition request lacked certain documents.
According to British press reports, Scotland Yard is getting increasingly concerned and irritated that procedural problems in Italy could delay Hamdi's extradition to the UK. Britain wants to extradite Hamdi, also known as Osman Hussain, as soon as possible under a new European arrest warrant.
he European warrant, which recently came into effect, provides a means to fast-track extraditions within 90 days. Previously, they could take years. British detectives flew to Rome shortly after his arrest here on Friday but have still not been allowed to question him, The Times of London reported.
Hamdi is talking freely to Italian police about the failed July 21 attacks in London but British officers want their own information as they question the four main suspects held in Britain. The self-proclaimed London would-be bomber has let it be known he will opposed extradition and should Italy decide to hand him over to Britain, Hamdi will have the right to appeal to Italy's supreme court.
The extradition may be delayed because Italian antiterrorism prosecutors have opened their own probe to establish whether Hamdi's contacts in Italy amounted to a logistics operation supporting terrorists. Chief prosecutor Franco Ionta said they were obliged by law to pursue their probe from the moment they became aware that the bomber may have committed terrorist crimes in Italy too. This meant that the chief suspect had to remain in their custody.
