Canadian's Appeal to Stop Extradition to U.S. over Iraq Deaths Denied

An Iraqi-born Canadian man accused of helping to plan suicide bombings which left five American soldiers dead lost an appeal against his extradition to the United States on Monday.

Lawyers for Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa, who faces life in prison if eventually convicted, immediately vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

'Isa was indicted in New York federal court in 2011 on charges of conspiracy to murder Americans in his native Iraq, and providing material support for terrorism.

He was arrested in Canada the same year and subsequently ordered extradited to the United States to face a trial.

'Isa however appealed the decision.

He maintained that he was wrongly denied access to a lawyer or interpreter on the day of his arrest, and that his brother and others were tortured into giving false information about him.

The Alberta Court of Appeal in rejecting his appeal noted that the bulk of the evidence in the case was obtained from 'Isa's own statements to police, computer searches and wiretaps.

'Isa is accused of having helped to organize two suicide bomb attacks using two trucks filled with explosives in Iraq that killed five U.S. soldiers, several police officers and other Iraqis.

The United States alleges that he was a member of a "terrorist facilitation network" operating in Iraq, Libya, Tunisia and Syria, whose members recruited "jihadist" fighters in Tunisia and transported them into Iraq to execute attacks against U.S. and coalition forces there, according to Canadian court documents.

Picture source: Montreal Gazette