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| Great White North |
| American charged with imam's slaying faces extradition |
| 2009-05-02 |
| A man accused of killing a controversial imam in Tucson, Ariz., in 1990 made his first appearance in a Calgary court on Friday since his arrest this week. Glen Cusford Francis, 52, will remain in custody for up to 60 days as the United States government files detailed documents to justify his extradition to face a murder charge. ``We have the basis for the provisional arrest warrant,'' defence lawyer Karen Molle said after her client appeared before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Suzanne Bensler. ``They have 60 days to get their evidence together.'' Once all of the documents have been filed, an extradition hearing will be scheduled for Francis to determine if he should go back to the U.S. to face charges. The fugitive was picked up in northwest Calgary on Tuesday by city police after a 19-year international manhunt. He had been using a fake identity to evade the law, and was most recently working in Calgary as a labourer. Francis moved from place to place around the United States for several years after the January 1990 stabbing death of Dr. Rashad Khalifa. Francis, then going by the name Benjamin Phillips, was identified as a suspect soon after the slaying. While Francis was on the lam, five Muslim extremists were convicted of plotting to kill Khalifa, but none were convicted of actually killing him. Khalifa had received numerous death threats for his religious views. He said he believed the Koran contained codes that prove the book was written by God. As such, he preached that only God should be praised, not prophets. According to the Tucson Citizen, Khalifa believed some verses of the Koran were written by Satan. Francis will be back in court on May 15. |
| Posted by:ryuge |