UK asks Morocco again to hand over robbery suspect

RABAT, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Britain has sent Morocco a second request to extradite a kick boxer suspected of taking part in Britain's biggest cash robbery, his lawyer said on Monday.

Lee Murray arrived in Morocco shortly after the 53 million pound ($104 million) armed hold-up of a Securitas cash depot in Kent, England, and was arrested by Moroccan security forces with three British companions in June.

Murray was sentenced last week to eight months in jail on charges of drug possession and assaulting police officers. He had already served the sentence and was hoping to walk free this weekend if he paid a fine.

Murray's lawyer Abdullah Benlemhidi al-Issaoui said he was re-arrested after Britain made a second extradition request. The first had been rejected by Morocco's supreme court because it came too long after Murray's first arrest, he said.

"Another dossier has been opened by the courts against Murray after the British again asked for his extradition," Issaoui told Reuters.

He said extraditing Murray would be illegal because he holds dual Moroccan citizenship through his father, a Moroccan who emigrated to Britain.

Officials at the British embassy in Rabat were not immediately available for comment.

Murray, who competed as a cage fighter and appeared on television as Lee "Lightning" Murray, had pleaded not guilty to charges of drug possession and assaulting the police officers who arrested him.