EU court clears hurdle to Briton's extradition to US

London: The European Court of Human Rights has cleared the way for the extradition of a British man who allegedly hacked into secret US military computers, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The court refused to delay Gary McKinnon's extradition to the United States, which he says would violate his human rights. McKinnon's lawyer, Karen Todner, said his extradition could come within the next two weeks.

"He is terrified by the prospect of going to America," Todner said. "Our client now faces the prospect of prosecution and imprisonment thousands of miles away from his family in a country in which he has never set foot." US prosecutors want to try McKinnon, 42, for allegedly hacking into 97 computers belonging to Nasa, the Department of Defence and several branches of the military from a bedroom in a north London home. They allege he caused nearly $1 million (Dh3.67 million) in damage. McKinnon's alleged attacks - which took place soon after the September 11 attacks in the United States - shut down the US Army district responsible for protecting Washington DC, and cleared logs from computers at the Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, which tracks the location and battle-readiness of US Navy ships.

McKinnon was caught in 2002 when investigators traced software used in the attacks to his girlfriend's e-mail account.

They have already asked Britain's High Court and the House of Lords to prevent his extradition. Both requests were denied.

McKinnon's attorneys say they'll ask Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's help in preventing the extradition, but it was not immediately clear what specifically she might do.