U.S. Deports to Egypt Person Conviction in Absentia for Sadat Assassination

On June 12, 2002 the United States handed over to Egypt Nabil Soliman, an Egyptian national who was convicted in Absentia for his involvement in the 1981 assassination of then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Mr. Soliman had been in the U.S. since 1992 and resulted from the ?conclusion of appropriate legal proceedings concerning Mr. Soliman, who was removed for being in the United States illegally.? U.S. Ambassador to Egypt David Welch cited the extradition as an example of close cooperation between Egypt and the US. After the Sadat assassination, approximately 300 men were tried. Islamist figures in Cairo and London said they were not aware of anyone by the name of Nabil Soliman among the persons convicted. Egypt?s Interior Ministry made no immediate comment after Soliman?s hand-over. A result of the international counter terrorism cooperation has been a lowering of standards with respect to due process and international human rights.