Italy Court Approves Extradition of UK Bomb Suspect

ROME - An Italian court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to Britain within 35 days of one of the suspected bombers in attacks on London's transportation network on July 21.

Ethiopian-born Hamdi Issac, also known as Osman Hussein, has admitted to taking part in the London attacks but has insisted they were only meant to scare people, not kill them.

None of the bombs used in the attack exploded.

His lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa said Issac would appeal against the extradition ruling.

"My client cannot have an impartial trial there," she said.

The 35-day timeframe for the extradition covers the period allowed to Issac for his appeal process. It will also allow Italian prosecutors to complete their own investigations into suspicions he might have had terror links within Italy.

Issac was seized in Rome after fleeing Britain in the wake of the attack, which killed no one but brought chaos to London exactly two weeks after suicide bombers had killed more than 50 people in the British capital.

According to Paolo Iorio, the lawyer representing Britain at Wednesday's hearing, it did contain known explosives.

A copy of Wednesday's sentence, obtained by Reuters, said British officials believed Issac and his associates may have used a homemade explosive known as TATP (triacetone triperoxide).

TATP is the same explosive that "shoebomber" Richard Reid had used in his shoes, which he unsuccessfully tried to ignite on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Instructions for making TAPT from household chemicals are easily obtained on the Internet.

"A preliminary analysis of samples of the materials recovered from the homemade devices indicates that the materials had properties of explosives," it said.

Extradition Precedent

Issac, who lived in Italy from 1991 to 1996, sat quietly during the proceedings as judges spent hours deliberating. He said nothing upon hearing the verdict but looked downcast, according to Iorio.

"He understands Italian, he was following what people were saying," Iorio said. "I think he was sad."

Once his appeal is lodged Italy's highest appeals court, the Court of Cassation, will have 15 days to make a final ruling, meaning that Issac could be handed over to the British authorities before the end of September -- much quicker than lawyers had initially expected.

Iorio said he believed Italy would uphold the extradition order. He said the courts set the precedent last year, when it authorised the extradition to Spain of a prime suspect in the Madrid bombings that killed 191 people.

Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, also known as "Mohamed the Egyptian", had fought the extradition.

"I believe I will win again," Iorio said.