Dutch court blocks Qaeda suspect's US extradition
AFP July 23, 2013, 11:23 pm
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) - A Dutch court on Tuesday blocked the extradition of a Dutch-Pakistani Al-Qaeda suspect to the US, saying there were unanswered questions about the US role in his alleged torture in Pakistan.
The man, identified as Sabir K., is accused in the US of planning to commit acts of terror including a suicide attack on a US military base in Afghanistan's Kunar province in 2010.
"The court decided on appeal that suspect Sabir K. cannot be extradited to the United States," the appeals court said in a statement.
The 26-year-old Sabir K. said that the US played a role in what he said was his torture in Pakistan following his arrest almost three years ago.
"There are circumstances which raise questions about the role played by the United States in Sabir K.'s arrest in Pakistan," the court said.
Without proof that the US was not involved in his alleged torture, extradition is illegal, the court said.
Arrested in Pakistan, Sabir K. was brought back in April 2012 to the Netherlands, where a string of court rulings have accepted and then rejected his extradition.
Sabir K. opposed his extradition request -- filed by the United States in June 2012 -- claiming that US officials had a role in his alleged torture while in custody in Pakistan.
