(ANSA) - A key suspect in the failed July 21 terror attacks on London plans to fight an Italian court's decision on Wednesday to hand him over to British authorities.
Hamdi Issac has freely admitted his involvement in the attacks, in which no one was harmed, but insists they were merely a "demonstrative" gesture.
Speaking after the ruling by a three-judge panel, which said Issac must return to the UK by September 21, his lawyer said she would appeal the decision in Italy's highest court. "I will object to the ruling on the basis that the judges said the evidence offered by British representatives was complete," Antonietta Sonnessa told reporters.
She claimed that a chemical analysis by British police of the device used in the attacks had not yet been handed over to Italian authorities. This meant the panel had reached its decision on incomplete evidence, she said. Sonnessa, who maintains Issac will not receive a fair trial in the UK, added that the analysis of the device was a vital piece of evidence in the UK investigation. The precise composition of the device has become a key issue in judicial proceedings here.
Ethiopian-born Issac insists the attacks were not meant to harm anyone. As evidence of this, he claims the devices were made of flour, nails and chemicals available over-the-counter. The lawyer representing the British government, Paolo Iorio, on Wednesday told the judges that the devices had contained gunpowder, corn flour and two homemade explosives, TAPT and HMTD.
The panel reached its decision following a three-hour, closed-door hearing, in which Italian prosecutors also asked for Issac to remain in Rome. The 35-day delay will allow them to conclude their own investigation into Issac for suspected links to an Italian-based network of international terrorists.
In recent days, the chief Italian prosecutor on the investigation, Alberto Cozzella, has suggested that Issac's extradition could be temporary if his team decides to press charges.
It is not clear whether Italian authorities will demand Issac's return for trial in this event. However, unlike the British system, the Italian judiciary is able to try a suspect in absentia. Iorio said afterwards that temporary extradition was an entirely separate procedure from the current request for Issac's handover.
"Temporary extradition is only an option if there is agreement between both judicial authorities, which in this case there wasn't," he said. He added that even if Italian prosecutors discovered new evidence at this stage, Rome would still be obliged to deliver Issac to London authorities.
Issac, who is also known as Osman Hussain, was arrested in the Italian capital at the home of his brother on July 29 and has been held in a central Rome jail ever since. Details of the arrest warrant, which emerged during Wednesday's hearing, indicated that Italian police had discovered a map of Paris's metro system among Issac's possessions.
Other significant items, according to prosecutors, were flight tickets to Dubai, Addis Ababa and Athens, numerous phone cards, three cell phones, two computers, various identification documents and CDs.
These showed he was a flight risk, as well as possibly "a member of an international association dedicated to carrying out terrorist acts", said the warrant. Issac, 27, was born in Ethiopia but lived in Italy from
1991 to 1996. Sonnessa has ten days in which to file an appeal. The Court of Cessation, which must reach its decision within two weeks of the hearing, is expected to rule on the extradition by mid-September.
