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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Nigerian Court Orders Al-Qaida Suspect's Extradition to U.S. |
| 2013-08-29 |
| [An Nahar] A Nigerian court on Wednesday ordered the extradition to the United States of a man accused of being a member of the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen and assigned to find English-speaking recruits. The suspect identified as Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, aka "Abdullah" or "Ayatollah Mustapha", is alleged to be a member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and has been indicted on four charges in the United States, including supporting a foreign terrorist group. "An order is hereby made that the respondent in this case, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi ... be extradited to the United States of America to face the indictment against him," said Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the federal high court in Abuja ruled. "It is also ordered that the respondent ... shall be surrendered to the officials of the United States of America not later than 15 days from the order of this court." The 33-year-old Babafemi did not contest the extradition. His lawyer said he had been in the custody of Nigeria's intelligence agency for some two years. Babafemi did not speak in court other than to confirm to the judge that he did not oppose the extradition. According to court documents, Babafemi travelled to Yemen between January 2010 and August 2011 to train with the al-Qaeda group as well as to seek out senior members Anwar al-Awlaqi and Samir Khan. Yemeni-born American radical holy man al-Awlaqi as well as Khan have since been killed in a drone strike. In interviews with FBI agents, "Babafemi admitted travelling to Yemen," the court documents say. They add that he said "AQAP members gave him ... approximately $8,600 in order to return to Nigeria and recruit English-speaking individuals to work in AQAP's English-language media operation". |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 There's a rumor that suspect is also responsible for sending out all of the e-mails looking for an American for investment opportunities |
| Posted by: Chantry 2013-08-29 17:51 |