Suspected terrorist extradited to France (AP) Updated: 2005-12-02 10:59
An Algerian man suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris subway
a decade ago was extradited from Britain to France on Thursday, British and
French officials said.
Rachid Ramda, who spent 10 years in jail in Britain, allegedly provided funds
for the bombers of the July 1995 attack, which killed eight people and injured
87 on the Paris Metro system.
"Justice is finally going to be done," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
said in an interview with France-3 television, adding that he hoped a trial
would take place "very quickly."
Ramda arrived in Paris on Thursday evening and was to be presented before
Paris prosecutors office in connection with an international arrest warrant, the
French Justice Ministry said.
The conclusion to Britain's longest-running extradition case follows a ruling
last month. Two High Court judges rejected Ramda's appeal against extradition,
ruling that Home Secretary Charles Clarke had acted legally earlier this year in
ordering his extradition.
Ramda was arrested in Britain in 1995 as a suspect in the bombing, which was
widely attributed to Algeria's militant Armed Islamic Group.
Supporters of a campaign to block extradition alleged that he could
eventually be deported from France to Algeria, and claimed he could face
execution there. The High Court judges said there was "no real risk" Ramda would
be ill-treated in French custody or deported to Algeria.
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