IS suspect wanted in two countries

Filipino stands accused at home but US wants to extradite him over terror plot

MANILA: A Filipino doctor accused of plotting terror attacks in the United States was arrested months ago in the Philippines for his alleged involvement in kidnappings and beheadings blamed on pro-Islamic State (IS) group militants, an official said.

Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras said yesterday a Manila court was weighing a US government request that Russell Salic be extradited to face terrorism financing complaints.

US authorities said on Friday that they disrupted a plot by Salic and two other IS sympathisers to carry out terrorist attacks at various loca- tions in New York City, including concert venues, subway stations and Times Square, in the summer of 2016.

Even if the court approved the US extradition request, the Department of Justice in Manila would have to decide whether to let Salic face criminal complaints in the Philippines first or be allowed to be flown to the United States to answer the terrorism allegations there, Paras said.

“The United States can also request for a temporary surrender of Salic to its custody, but it’s in our options to require him to face crimi- nal complaints here first,” he added.

Salic, 37, is accused of sending money to help fund the planned attacks, according to US court documents which have been made public.

He allegedly told an undercover FBI agent posing as an extremist that his ultimate goal was to join IS in Syria, but that “it would be a great pleasure if we can slaughter” people in New York, the documents said.

One of the defendants, Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, was arrested after travelling from Canada to New Jersey in May 2016 to stage the attacks, US authorities said.

An American suspect, Talha Haroon, was arrested in Pakistan last year.

Haroon’s extradition was halted in March by a Pakistan court. Haroon’s lawyer Tariq Asad said at the time that his client’s father told the court his son was innocent and would be in danger if he was extradited to the United States, where President Donald Trump had “biased and prejudiced policy against the Muslims”.

Filipino state prosecutors say Salic was taken into custody around April of this year for alleged involve- ment in the abduction of six sawmill workers, two of whom were later beheaded, in the southern Philippine town of Butig in Lanao del Sur province in 2016.

The kidnappings and beheadings have been blamed on the so-called Maute group, a band of militants aligned with IS that was largely unknown until it led a siege of southern Marawi city in May.

Nearly 1,000 people, including 771 militants, have been killed in the Marawi violence, which the military says will be contained soon following months of airstrikes and ground assaults. — AP