Here are thumbnail sketches of the five men who were being extradited Friday from the U.K. to the U.S., where they will stand trial on terror-related charges in federal district courts in Manhattan and Hartford, Conn. Abu Hamza al Masri, Khalid al Fawwaz and Adel Abdel Bari will be tried in New York and Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan will be tried in Hartford.

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Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al Masri, shown leading prayers at the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London pm Feb. 7, 2003.

Abu Hamza al Masri, an Egyptian-born cleric, will face 11 counts of criminal conduct related to the taking of 16 hostages in Yemen in 1998, advocating violent jihad in Afghanistan in 2001 and conspiring to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Ore., between June 2000 and December 2001. Masri was formerly the imam of London’s Finsbury Park Mosque, where shoe bomber Richard Reid worshiped and was recruited. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the U.S., Masri was quoted as saying: "Many people will be happy, jumping up and down at this moment." In 2003, he famously addressed a rally in central London called by the Islamic al-Muhajiroun, where members spoke of their support for Islamist goals like the creation of an Islamic caliphate and upending the Middle Eastern regimes. Masri lost both hands and an eye in Afghanistan, either building a bomb or in a de-mining operation.

Khalid al Fawwaz has been under indictment in the United States since 1998, accused of conspiracy in planning the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa. He has been in U.K. jails since Sept. 28, 1998, fighting his extradition in both U.K. and EU courts.  Al-Fawwaz, a Saudi and a civil engineer, is 50 years old. He moved from Riyadh to London in 1994. According to documents placed in the court record by the FBI, he was then appointed by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as the first head of the terrorist group’s media organ, the Advice and Reform Committee. In 1996, as bin Laden delegated some of his leadership responsibilities to al-Fawwaz, the FBI reported.  By 1998, the FBI claimed in affidavits that he was a pivotal figure in planning the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people.

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Abel Abdel Bari is an Egyptian who -- like al Fawwaz and other alleged conspirators (now dead) -- was indicted in the embassy bombings. He was arrested in London in July 20, 1999, and charged with conspiring with bin Laden in planning the twin attacks on Aug. 7, 1998, the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American forces in Saudi Arabia. Bari reportedly issued a statement following the bombings claiming responsibility.

The two remaining defendants Babar Ahmad and Syed Tahla Ahsan, both British, are accused of involvement with the pro-terror website Azzam.com before their arrests by their government. They have been held in custody since Aug. 5, 2004. 

Robert Windrem is a senior investigative producer for NBC News.

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By Robert Windrem
NBC News

Police raids in Bangkok, Thailand, which netted a suspected Hezbollah operative Thursday and the makings of bomb-making materials Saturday, represent "one of the most credible Israel-focused threats overseas in a long time," said NBC News analyst Roger Cressey, and "very much the real deal" adds NBC News analyst Mike Leiter.

The two analysts referred primarily to the Saturday raid where police confiscated more than 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of urea fertilizer and several gallons of liquid ammonium nitrate found in a warehouse in Samut Sakhon, on the western outskirts of Bangkok.

Officials in the U.S. and Israel said Hezbollah could have been planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in downtown Bangkok, near various tourist sites, say Cressey and Leiter. Hezbollah, a Shi'ite Islamist group in Lebanon backed by Syria and Iran, is on the U.S. blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations.

The raid caused both the U.S. and Israel to issue public travel warnings urging their citizens to be cautious.

Information that led to the raid was relayed to Thai police by Israeli intelligence. Police detained a Swedish national of Lebanese origin with alleged links to pro-Iranian Hezbollah militants on Thursday. The intelligence indicated a plot could be carried out between between Friday and Sunday.

Cressey said the fear was that Hezbollah was constructing a large bomb that would have caused a devastating blast in an area that many Americans visit.

"There would have been a lot of collateral damage," said Cressey, a former member of the U.S. National Security Council staff.

Moreover, both analysts note they've been told the threat may not be over, that at least one other operative is being sought. Leiter, former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, says there is a fear about plots against "secondary targets", either tourist or Jewish, in the Thai capital.

As for the rationale for the attack, Cressey said, "All theories make sense. Can't rank order them yet," while Leiter noted, "It's pretty consistent with the increase in tension between Israel and Iran." Iran has vowed revenge for the killings of its nuclear scientists, which it has blamed on Israel and the U.S.

One possibility raised by both is Hezbollah revenge for the Israeli killing on Imad Mugniyah, the Hezbollah leader who died in a car bombing in downtown Damascus nearly four years ago on February 12, 2008.  Mugniyah was responsible for many anti-American and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983, the Marine Barracks bombing in 1983 and the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992. Hezbollah vowed revenge for that killing but never carried out attacks that it tied to Mugniyah's death.

Background on the incident from the Associated Press:

National police chief Priewpan Damapong told reporters the suspect, named as Atris Hussein, had given police an address where bomb-making material was being kept.

Priewpan said the suspect had maintained that his group had not planned an attack in Thailand but intended to transport the substances to a third country, which he would not name.

Asked about the discovery, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told reporters: "I have been informed. I would like to ask people not to panic. We are currently in control of the situation."

Thai officials have seemed irritated by travel advisories issued by the U.S. and Israeli governments, followed by several more since Friday. Foreign Minister Surapong Towijakchaikul said diplomats from countries that had issued warnings would meet with him for an explanation on Monday.

Tourism is a big money-earner for Thailand, and ministers are keen not to deter travelers, especially after the hit to tourism from severe flooding in 2011 and political unrest in 2010.

Yingluck also instructed the defense ministry to consult U.S. embassy officials to discuss its terror warning and seek a retraction.

However, an embassy spokesman later said the terror warning to its citizens was valid and the United States had no plan to rescind it.

Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha told reporters in the northern city of Chiang Mai on Sunday that Thailand was not the target, although officials have also said that areas of Bangkok frequented by Westerners and Israelis could be hit.

Yuthasak said that a second suspect had managed to leave the country.