The story

A British court ruled Thursday that radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri can be extradited to the United States, a member of al-Masri's defense team confirmed to CNN, though any final decision on extradition is still several months away.

Al-Masri's legal advisers said they were still exploring avenues of appeal, a process which could take months. Under British law, al-Masri must be allowed to exhaust his appeals before any extradition proceedings continue.

The British home secretary also has until the end of the cleric's current seven-year jail term to approve the extradition, though the Home Office said Secretary Jacqui Smith was expected to make a decision "shortly." Read full article »