Ending eight years of legal battles, the European Court of Human Rights has approved the extradition of five terrorism suspects from the United Kingdom to the United States.

The two most high-profile suspects are Abu Hamza al-Masri and Babar Ahmad, for whom the U.S. has sought extradition since 2004. Abu Hamza is accused of planning a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, and helping take hostages in Yemen in 1998, as well as providing goods and services to the Taliban.

Babar Ahmad and another suspect, Syed Talha Ahsan, allegedly ran a jihadist website in London that supported terrorism. The U.S. government claims the right to prosecute them because the website, although run in London, was hosted by a company in Connecticut. They are also accused of receiving U.S. Naval plans. Imprisoned in the U.K. since August 2004, Babar Ahmad is thought to the British citizen held the longest without trial in modern times.

The remaining two men facing extradition are Saudi Arabia-born Adel Abdul Bary and Egyptian Khaled al-Fawwaz, who are accused of being aides to Osama bin Laden in London and helping plan the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

British officials said they would expedite the transfer of the five men, which could take place in a matter of weeks. The men pleaded with the European court to not approve extradition, claiming they could face inhumane treatment in the U.S.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

To Learn More:

Abu Hamza and Babar Ahmad Extradition Approved (BBC News)

Abu Hamza Loses Fight Against Extradition to the US (by Alan Travis and Owen Bowcott, The Guardian)

European Court Says Britain Can Send Terror Suspects to U.S. (by John F. Burns and Alan Cowell, New York Times)