U.S. court fight starts for radical cleric sent from Britain NEW YORK (Reuters) - Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri appeared in federal court in New York on Saturday after Britain extradited the one-eyed radical preacher to the United States to face trial and a potential life sentence on terrorism charges. The Egyptian-born Abu Hamza, 54, is accused by Washington of supporting al Qaeda, aiding a kidnapping in Yemen and plotting to open a training camp for militants in the United States. He was flown late on Friday to the United States along with four other men also wanted on U.S. terrorism charges. Under the terms of British and European court rulings authorizing the extradition, the five suspects must be tried in U.S. civilian courts and federal prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty. At a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Hamza was informed of the charges he faces, but will not be asked to enter a plea until he returns to court on Tuesday. Hamza was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York in April 2004. He is accused of involvement in a 1998 hostage-taking in Yemen that resulted in the deaths of four hostages - three Britons and one Australian. If convicted, Hamza could face up to life in prison. U.S. officials said they were pleased that Hamza and the other men would finally answer to the long-standing charges. The extradition "is a watershed moment in our nation's efforts to eradicate terrorism," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. Saudi native Khalid al-Fawwaz, 50, and Egyptian Adel Abdul Bary, 52, also appeared in federal court in New York on Saturday. Both pleaded not guilty to charges that they and others were involved in the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Also on Saturday, British citizens Babar Ahmad, 38, and Syed Talha Ahsan, 33, charged with supporting al Qaeda and other militant groups by operating various websites promoting Islamic holy war, pleaded not guilty before a federal judge in New Haven, Connecticut, court records showed. Born Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, Hamza moved to Britain as an engineering student in the 1970s, married a British woman and once worked as a doorman at discos in London. Abu Hamza is missing both his hands and an eye, injuries he says he sustained while living in Afghanistan in the 1980s while carrying out humanitarian work. Authorities say he was fighting for the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union. Dressed in blue prison garb, Hamza spoke only once during Saturday's 10-minute court hearing before Magistrate Judge Frank Maas. Through his court appointed lawyer, Hamza asked that his prosthetics be returned to him and that he receive proper medical attention. A fiery anti-Western speaker, who wears a hook in place of his missing right hand, he is said to have inspired some of the world's most high-profile militants including Zacarias Moussaoui, one of the accused September 11, 2001 conspirators. After being held on the U.S. extradition warrant, he was jailed by a British court in 2006 for inciting Muslims to kill Jews and non-believers, based on extracts of speeches he had given years earlier. He lost his eight-year battle to avoid deportation on Friday after two London High Court judges refused a last bid to delay his departure. The European Court of Human Rights refused to stop London from extraditing Hamza and the four others. While all five defendants were first presented on Saturday before judges in New York and Connecticut, there is little likelihood that a full trial will begin soon. Some U.S. officials are concerned that their trials could ignite politically motivated debate about security threats and coddling of militants. Yet many experts caution that U.S. civilian courts can and have handled many high profile cases that involved Islamist militants. Following a closely watched trial in Manhattan federal court, Tanzanian national Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was sentenced to life in prison in January, 2011 for his role in the 1998 bombings. Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw that trial, will also handle the cases of al-Fawwaz and Abdul Bary, both of whom are slated to appear before Kaplan on Tuesday. Hamza's case has been assigned to judge Katherine Forrest, who has been on the bench for less than a year. Last month, Forrest issued a controversial ruling blocking enforcement of a U.S. law's provision that authorizes indefinite military detention for people deemed to have "substantially supported" al Qaeda, the Taliban or "associated forces." Government attorneys, who obtained an emergency suspension of her ruling from an appeals court, argued that Forrest's permanent injunction would hurt America's ability to fight wars overseas. Editing by Vicki Allen