United States prosecutors told an extradition hearing that they want to put race hate preacher Abu Hamza on trial for terrorism before he completes his UK jail term.
That would mean the hook-handed cleric could become one of the first Britons to be extradited to a foreign court mid-sentence, it was later learned.
But they must now wait until he has used up every possible line of appeal against his convictions for incitement to murder and stirring up racial hatred.
Hamza, 47, is just weeks into a seven-year prison term after an Old Bailey jury found him guilty of 11 offences last month.
The conviction followed his arrest in 2004, just months after the US authorities began moves to extradite him to face terrorism charges.
The arrest put those proceedings, which accused him of being part of a worldwide conspiracy to wage war on the West, on hold.
Senior US lawyers also accused him of providing support to terrorists and foreign terrorist organisations, specifically Al Qaida.
A further charge alleges he took part in a conspiracy to take hostages in connection with an attack in Yemen in December of 1998.
It has now emerged that Hamza could face the charges in an American court much sooner than expected, after an appeal against his UK conviction is dealt with. After that trial, he would return to the UK to complete his jail term before being extradited once again, if found guilty, to serve any penalty imposed by a US judge.
The maximum sentence for hostage-taking in the US is life imprisonment, while the other charges have maximum penalties of 100 years in prison each
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