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| Africa North |
| Algeria not to extradite GSPC founder to Interpol |
| 2007-10-24 |
| Algeria will not extradite Algerians wanted by Interpol to any nation whatever the crimes they are charged with are serious, according to the director of judicial police Rabeh Laj, division police commissioner. “Algerian law is clear in this issue. It stipulates that Algeria does not extradite any Algerian to be trialled in a foreign country,” he said. He added that this law is applied on all Algerians who are in Algeria and are accused of perpetrating certain crimes in foreign countries. In a press conference held with the chief of Interpol office in Algeria Abbad Ben Yamina, Laj said justice is now handling the case of Hassan Hattab the founder of the Salafist Group for Preaching and combat (GSPC). “As Hassan Hattab has surrendered, the mission of judicial police is over and that of the justice ministry starts here,” he added. No statement has been made about the number of Algerians wanted by Interpol in the World. “Their number is not constant. It is changing because it is linked to the data base of Interpol.” Some of the Algerians who are wanted by Interpol are accused of drug trafficking, money laundering and counterfeiting of hard currency, said the division police commissioner. At present there is no Algerian wanted by Interpol for terror-related charges except the twenty ones who are mentioned in the Interpol resolution No 16 / 73, according to the same source. Algeria is working with Interpol mainly in drug trafficking especially cannabis and money laundering, said Rabeh Laj. For his part, the representative of Interpol in the Middle East and North Africa Hossam Abdelatif said cooperation between the Interpol offices in different countries depends on the nature of political relations between these countries. “As much as political relationships between two countries are good, as much as cooperation between Interpol offices in both nations is good and vice versa,” he added. |
| Posted by:Fred |