Five Terror Suspects Depart Britain to Face US Charges

 Five Terror Suspects Depart Britain to Face US Charges

Two U.S. planes carrying radical¹ Muslim preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other suspected terrorists have departed Britain for the United States, hours after Britain's High Court cleared the way for their extradition².

The planes departed a Royal Air Force base late Friday, after the High Court rejected last-minute appeals by al-Masri and the others. The five had raised legal questions about human rights and prison conditions they expected to face in the United States. In rejecting the appeals, the British court cited an "overwhelming public interest" in seeing the extraditions carried out.

Al-Masri is wanted on U.S. charges that include conspiring³ to set up a terrorist training camp in the U.S. state of Oregon. He also is accused of helping⁴ abduct⁵ 16 hostages, including two Americans, in Yemen in 1998. Four people died in the hostage taking incident.

Two other suspects aboard the flights, Adel Abdul Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz, are wanted for their alleged⁶ roles in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998. Al-Fawwaz faces more than 260 counts of murder. 

Both British and European courts had earlier ruled in favor of the extraditions, triggering the appeals that were rejected Friday.

Outside the courthouse, Ahmad's father, Ashfaq Ahmad, decried⁷ the ruling, saying it would be "forever remembered as a shameful⁸ chapter in the history of Britain."

"The system has let me down in a manner more befitting of a third world country than one of the world's oldest democracies," he said.

Ashfaq Ahmad also told reporters that while he now fears for his son's well-being⁹, the final ruling came as no surprise.

U.S. officials have charged two others aboard the flights, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, in connection with a website used to provide support to terrorists.

1 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

2 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

3 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 abduct   

vt.诱拐，拐带，绑架

参考例句：

• The police caught the man who tried to abduct the boy for ransom.警察抓住了那个企图拐走这男孩以便勒索赎金的家伙。
• The news that we see those use network abduct children sometimes filled with apprehension.我们有时看到那些利用网络诱拐儿童的新闻都心惊肉跳。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

9 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。