MUSLIM cleric Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, who is challenging his extradition to the United States on terrorism charges, suffered yet another delay in the hearing of his habeas corpus application in the Supreme Court on Monday.

El-Faisal is seeking to have the high court quash the United States’ extradition request for him and reinstate his freedom.

However, the habeas corpus application, which is to be argued by his attorney Bert Samuels, did not get off the ground as planned on Monday.

“The matter came up before Justice Dale Palmer but, unfortunately, the notes of evidence and the reasons from the parish court were not made available to the defence as yet; therefore, the matter was adjourned until the 16th of October,” Samuels told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old accused, christened Trevor William Forrest, took the matter to the Supreme Court in May after Kingston and St Andrew Parish Judge Broderick Smith ruled on April 30 that el-Faisal should be extradited during an extradition hearing.

El-Faisal was arrested on August 25 last year on an extradition warrant from the United States of America in relation to charges of conspiracy as a crime of terrorism, two counts of soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism, and two counts of attempted soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism.

He was taken into custody after a month-long operation carried out by an undercover New York Police Department officer, who allegedly communicated with him via e-mail, text and video chat.

According to prosecutor Jeremy Taylor, the allegations against el-Faisal indicated that he had an established online presence and was not only a strong supporter of the Islamic faith, but that he acted as a marriage broker for women who wanted to migrate and marry Islamic State members, and also had connections with people interested in joining the terrorist network.

The prosecutor also stated that, based on the allegations, the accused had multiple conversations with an overseas undercover female officer on different social media platforms, to whom he allegedly provided names and contacts to help her join the IS network after she told him she had medical skills and wanted to help the brothers.

— Tanesha Mundle