Turkey Requests Iraqi Extradition of Two Islamists for 2003 Attack

On July 13, 2005, Turkey announced that it had asked Iraq to extradite two Turkish Islamists for participating in a 2003 terrorist attack in Istanbul. They are detained in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. According to media reports, the extradition request seeks the extradition of Burhan Kus and Sadettin Aktas, the leading suspects who the U.S. troops arrested in Iraq in January on unrelated charges. A Turkish Justice Ministry official said Iraqi officials had not replied yet to the request. They added the surrender of the suspects might be delayed if U.S. or Israeli intelligence agencies wanted to interrogate the men before they left Iraq. He said that otherwise the extradition procedures could be concluded within a month...[more]