A Filipino suspect in a thwarted jihadist plot targeting New York's subway and Times Square will be extradited to the US, the Philippine Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said on October 8.
The suspect, 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 in 2016.
Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April 2017 and the US had requested his extradition.
The Philippines has an extradition process to be followed and this has been done many times in the past, Aguirre said.
Also on October 8, the Philippine military chief, General Eduardo Ano, said Salic was in the custody of the country's National Bureau of Investigation. Salic had sent funds to the IS "terrorist network" in the Middle East, the US, Malaysia.
US prosecutors announced on October 6 that from May 2016, authorised forces detained three suspects allegedly plotting attacks in New York city in summer of 2016.
They included 37-year-old Salic, along with Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 19-year-old Canadian, arrested in New Jersey in May 2016, and Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old US citizen, arrested in Pakistan in September the same year.
US prosecutors want Salic and Haroon to be extradited to the US, and if these suspects are found guilty, they could face the country’s maximum penalty of life sentence.-VNA
Philippines to extradite terrorist suspect to US
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