Posted by NEWS on 3/1/2005, 22:16:32 "We are confident that (Saad) al-Fagih will eventually be extradited to Saudi Arabia," Jamal Khashoggi, media adviser at the Saudi embassy in London, told Reuters. "There is enough evidence to tie him down to al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom." Fagih is a pro-reform activist, whose group says it aims to topple the Saudi monarchy by peaceful means and whom the United States has named as a suspected associate of al Qaeda. U.S. ally Saudi Arabia has accused Fagih of involvement in the wave of Qaeda-linked violence that has rocked the oil-rich kingdom since May 2003 and says he was involved in a Libyan plot to assassinate de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Abdullah. Fagih strongly denies any links with militant groups. Britain has been reluctant to comply with repeated Saudi requests to extradite Fagih, citing lack of evidence. But last week, the U.N. Security Council placed Fagih on a list of those it believes are linked to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's network at the request of Riyadh, Washington and London. Bin Laden is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 hijack attacks in the United States. Analysts say the U.N. move against Fagih might give the British government room to manoeuvre. "This matter has been a bone of contention between Saudi Arabia and Britain for some time," said Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research centre. "Britain could use the U.N. decision to bypass its own strict laws. A judge will now only have to look at whether an extradition order is warranted rather than if Fagih is guilty or not." Britain has joined the United Sates in freezing the assets of an Islamic group they suspect of acting on behalf of Fagih. Supporters of Fagih say he is being marked out for advocating reform in conservative Saudi Arabia, which is ruled by an absolute monarchy.
Saudi confident of dissident's extradition-official
Source: Reuters
RIYADH, Dec 27 (Reuters) - A Saudi diplomat said on Monday he was "confident" Britain would hand over a London-based Saudi dissident accused of links to al Qaeda.
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