Philippines to extradite New York plotter to US

A FILIPINO suspect in a thwarted jihadist plot targeting New York’s subway and Times Square will be extradited to the United States, the Philippine justice secretary said yesterday.

Russell Salic and two others have been charged with involvement in the plan to carry out the attacks in the name of the Islamic State group during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last year.

Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April and the US had requested his extradition, the US Department of Justice said.

“It only means that we have to begin the extradition proceedings being requested,” Philippine Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said in a statement, without giving a timeframe.

“We have a process to be followed and this has been done many times in the past.”

Philippines military chief General Eduardo Ano said yesterday Salic was in the custody of the country’s National Bureau of Investigation.

Salic, a 37-year-old Filipino doctor, transferred funds in May last year to the other suspects for the operation, according to US court documents released on Friday.

Multiple locations including New York’s subway, Times Square and some concert venues were identified as targets in the plot that was foiled by an undercover FBI agent, US authorities said on Friday.

The agent posed as an IS supporter and communicated with Salic and his two alleged accomplices – Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a Canadian, and Talha Haroon, an American citizen living in Pakistan.