Canadian terrorism suspect extradited to New York

An alleged terrorist charged with killing five American soldiers in Iraq will appear in a New York federal court on Saturday after being extradited from Canada, the Justice Department said Friday in a release.

Federal prosecutors believe that Faruq Khalil Muhammed, a Canadian citizen, helped orchestrate a suicide bombing on a military base in Mosul, Iraq, in 2009. In that attack, a bomb-filled truck drove up to the gate of the base and started a shootout with Iraqi police and an American convoy. The truck exploded next to the end of the convoy and killed five American soldiers.

{mosads}The case is being prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York, home to President Obama’s pick for attorney general, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.

“Today’s extradition demonstrates to those who orchestrate violence against our citizens and our soldiers that there is no corner of the globe from which they can hide from the long reach of the law,” Lynch said in a statement. 

“We will continue to use every available means to bring to justice those who are responsible for the deaths of American servicemen and women who paid the ultimate price in their defense of this nation.”

Canadian authorities arrested Muhammed in early 2011 on a provisional U.S. warrant. The Canadian Supreme Court denied his final extradition appeal last week, which cleared the way for Canada to turn him over to the United States, according to Nellin McIntosh, a spokeswoman with the New York Eastern District Attorney’s office.

A federal complaint from 2011 says that Canadian authorities discovered a slew of incriminating conversations with court-authorized wiretaps and search warrants. The government says those conversations show that he planned more attacks, volunteered to conduct a suicide mission and referred to Americans as “dogs.”

Republicans have criticized Obama for allowing the Justice Department to try terrorists in civilian court instead of a military tribunal. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) bashed Obama in 2013 for the decision to bring an alleged al Qaeda member to federal court. They argued that doing so prevents the administration from interrogating terrorists and gleaning important information.