Abu Hamza and Other Terror Suspects Arrive in U.S.

This Friday, April 30, 2004 file photo shows Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, as he arrives with a masked bodyguard, right, to conduct Friday prayers in the street outside the closed Finsbury Park Mosque in London. 

A British court is expected to rule on whether extremist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri is too ill to be extradited to the United States to face terror charges. London's High Court is set to decide Friday Oct. 5, 2012 whether al-Masri and other terror suspects can be sent to the U.S. to face charges that include helping set up a terrorist training camp in rural Oregon

Radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, the man authorities said tried to set up a terrorist training camp on American soil, has arrived in the U.S. to stand trial after an eight-year delay.

Hamza and the four other suspects had put up fierce legal opposition to extradition and had argued they had human rights concerns about the conditions they would face in U.S. prisons. The U.S. government first requested Hamza's extradition when he was picked up by British police in 2004.

U.S. Pays $50k Per Afghan Shooting Spree death Victim

The United States One- handed over a total of $860,000 to the families of those killed or draws blood or injured in Sgt. Robert Bales' shooting rampage: $50,000 for each person killed, and $10,000 for each human being or person wounded. Col. Gary Kolb, spokesperson for NATO's International Security Force, said the money was to help the victims and their families, and not compensation for Bales' actions.

Afghan villagers prays Saturday over the grave of The sixteen victims of a shooting the Panjwai district of Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan spree linked to U.S. soldier Robert Bales.

“The United States has paid $50,000 in compensation for each Afghan killed and $11,000 for each person wounded in the shooting spree attributed to a U.S. soldier that’s Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, above, in southern Afghanistan.” According to the AP,

The sums, much larger than typical payments made by the U.S. to families of civilians killed in military operations in Afghanistan, come as the U.S. tries to mend relations following the killing rampage that has threatened to undermine the international effort here.

The U.S. has paid compensation for the victims of the massacre in southern Afghanistan attributed to a U.S. soldier.

A U.S. official confirms that there have been payments but would not discuss amounts.

It was not immediately clear if the word used to describe the payment had legal significance in Afghanistan, where "blood money" can replace a trial or punishment of a killer.

The Afghan population is still clamoring to have Bales tried in Afghanistan, but military officials have said he will be tried in the U.S. If convicted of the 17 counts of murder he's charged with, Bales could face the death penalty or punishment.

Syria after two-day ‘massacre’ leaves 250 dead, U.S. warns

Syria’s main opposition group on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council and Arab League to hold emergency meetings into “the bloody massacres” as it reported 250 people killed in the past 48 hours.

Washington warned of new international measures against Syria, and said if Damascus did not fully implement an Arab League plan to contain the violence, “the international community will take additional steps to pressure the Assad regime to stop its crackdown.”
Reacting to reports of hundreds of civilians being killed this week, the SNC called for an "emergency UN Security Council session to discuss the regime’s massacres in Zawiyah mountain, Idlib, and Homs, in particular."
It also appealed for an "emergency meeting for the Arab League to condemn the bloody massacres... and cooperate with the United Nations in taking the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians".
The SNC, a major umbrella group of factions opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, reported "250 fallen heroes during a 48-hour period."
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime accused the opposition of pushing for foreign intervention and trying to sabotage an Arab-brokered deal for observers, but ignoring calls for talks.
France denounced what it said was the "unprecedented massacre" and urged Russia to accelerate talks for a UN Security Council resolution on the crisis.

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said: "Everything must be put in motion to end this murderous spiral into which Bashar al-Assad is dragging his people, deeper each day."

Russia has proposed a Security Council resolution that would denounce violence from both sides.
Syria blames the unrest on 'armed terrorist groups' - not peaceful protesters as maintained by Western powers and rights groups.
Its foreign minister, Walid Muallem, said he expected the observer mission to vindicate that position.