The United States Govern-ment yesterday indicated to the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court that it was ready to proceed with the extradition hearing against the two Guyanese and a Trinidadian indicted on six counts of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
The men - Abdul Kadir, Abdel Nur and Kareem Ibrahim - yesterday appeared in the Port of Spain Magistrates' Court before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicholls and were formally served with an arrest warrant emanating from the US. The trio was originally arrested on a provisional arrest warrant provided by the US to the Trinidadian authorities. However, the US Government has since submitted the necessary documents relating to its request for the extradition of the men from T&T to face charges in New York. The indictments were also re-read to the men yesterday.
One of the attorneys for the suspects, Rajiv Persad, told Stabroek News yesterday that he was formally served with the records of the case on Friday. The records set out the US case against the men. The lawyer said he has indicated to the court that he needed time to study the records of the case before preparing his response. Yesterday both the defence and the prosecution agreed to commence the extradition hearing on August 6. Persad told Stabroek News that the time was adequate for him to prepare his submissions. He said the defence was prepared to launch an appeal if the ruling did not go in its favour.
Kadir, Nur and Ibrahim, along with Guyanese born US citizen, Russell Defreitas have been indicted by the US for plotting to blow up fuel tanks at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. While Defreitas has been arraigned in New York, the other three men are in Trinidad awaiting extradition.
The four men are facing six indictments ranging from conspiracy to attack a public transportation system, conspiracy to destroy buildings by fire or explosive, conspiracy to attack aircraft and aircraft materials, conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities, conspiracy to attack a mass transportation facility and unlawful and unauthorized surveillance of a mass transportation facility.
Last month, Kadir and his co-accused had applied for bail, but this was denied. During the hearing, the US Government revealed photographs of the ex-Linden mayor posing with what was said to be high-powered weapons. Through Senior Counsel Israel Khan, the US had accused Kadir of having ties to militants abroad and charged that he had volunteered to finance trips of the other plotters to the US. Khan said Kadir was the one who discussed meeting and involving the radical Jamaat al Muslimeen group of Trinidad to get financing and operational help.
According to the US indictment, Defreitas, a former JFK Airport worker was the progenitor of the plan and signalled his intentions to others, which eventually led to the plotters travelling to Guyana on several occasions and hatching elaborate plans including an intention to draft the Jamaat al-Muslimeen into the plan. Just days prior to the alleged plotters being arrested, several of them had travelled to Trinidad where the US is alleging that they held a meeting with Muslimeen officials. The US is also alleging that the plot had its beginnings in or about January 2006. According to the indictment, it began tapping directly into the plan in July that year when its informant or the `Source' met Defreitas at the Gertz Plaza Mall in Queens, New York on July 13.
The complaint characterized the `Source' as follows: "The (US) government has been working with the Source since 2004. The Source was convicted on federal drug trafficking and RICO charges in the Southern District of New York in 1996. The Source was also convicted on drug trafficking charges in New York Supreme Court in 2003. His sentence in that case is pending as part of his cooperation agreement with the government. In addition to the expectation of a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation, the Source also receives financial assistance. The Source has provided extremely credible information that has been corroborated by consensual recordings, e-mails, financial documents, surveillance and other records and information."
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56525263
I hope they get extradited.
Thanks Oorang.
RECAP AND UPDATE: