Report: Russian suspected of terrorism being held in Afghanistan to be transferred to US for trial
A Russian captured five years ago in Afghanistan and believed to have led insurgent attacks against U.S. troops will be flown here to be prosecuted in federal court, U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post.
Known only by the nom de guerre Irek Hamidullan, the man has been held at the Parwan detention facility near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. It would be the first time for a foreign combatant captured on the battlefield there and held at the facility to be brought to the U.S. for trial.
The Obama administration had considered the possibility of trying him in a military commission here. While Congress bars transfers to the U.S. of accused terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, there is no similar law for those detained in Afghanistan.
Hamidullan is a veteran of the Soviet Union’s venture years ago with armed forces in Afghanistan, and the Post reports that Russia has no interest in him returning to his home country.
Pentagon officials believe that Hamidullan’s transfer will enable them to empty the Parwan facility of non-Afghan detainees before the end of the year.
Hamidullan is expected to be tried in the Eastern District of Virginia. It is not clear what charges he will face. The attacks he is accused of leading resulted in U.S. troops being killed and wounded.
