Man wanted on charges of premeditated murders of two Iraqi police officers in Iraq was captured in Pheonix, Arizona, said federal officials on Friday. Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri,42, is said to have killed the officers while acting as the leader os an Al-Qaeda group in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, said the US Justice Department in a statement.
The man was arrested on Thursday after the Iraqi government issued an extradition request to the US Justice Department. He was in custody by Thursday. The statement said that Al-Nouri appeared before the magistrate judge in Pheonix on Friday for the proceedings that can extradite him to Iraq.
Al-Qaeda group in Fallujah targeting the police
According to the Iraqi government, al-Nouri was the leader of an al Qaeda group in Fallujah which planned operations targeting Iraqi police. The statement noted the details in the Iraqi complaint were allegations that had yet to been proven in court.
Al-Nouri's extradition would have to be certified by the U.S. court and the U.S. Secretary of State would then decide whether to surrender him to Iraq, the statement said. It was not immediately possible to contact Al-Nouri for comment or determine whether he had hired a lawyer.
The statement did not provide information on when Al-Nouri entered the United States or how long he had lived in Phoenix.
(With inputs from agency)
