An Edmonton man was indicted on Friday in New York on charges that he aided in the murder of five American soldiers in a suicide-bomb attack in Iraq in April 2009.
Sayfildin Tahir-Sharif, a Canadian citizen, is accused of providing support to a terrorist organization and conspiring to kill the soldiers.
American authorities are seeking to have him extradited to face the charges in the U.S.
The indictment also charges him with conspiring to kill Americans abroad and providing material support to that terrorist conspiracy to kill Americans abroad.
![Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get daily National news
“In January 2011, the defendant was arrested and detained in Canada after he was charged by a federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. The United States is seeking the defendant’s extradition from Canada in relation to the federal complaint in the Eastern District of New York,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
“He remains in custody, and the defendant’s extradition hearing in Canada is currently scheduled for Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, 2012.”
Earlier this year, his defence lawyer, Bob Aloneissi, requested documents, including sealed affidavits and wiretap evidence, as well as information about the search of Tahir-Sharif’s Edmonton apartment on Jan. 19.
In March, the federal Department of Justice consented to the release of those documents.
If convicted, Tahir-Sharif faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Tahir-Sharif is charged with the murders of Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Kentucky.; Sgt. First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, California.; Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Missouri; Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa; and Army Pte. First Class Bryce E. Gaultier, 22, from Cyprus, California.
Comments