Posted on 01/13/2003 3:50:26 PM PST by knighthawk
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German officials are considering whether to extradite two Yemeni al-Qaida suspects arrested last week at Washington's request, officials said Monday.
No date has been set for any decision, said Wolfgang Frank, a spokesman for the state court in Frankfurt, which will have to rule on the case. The men, Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayyed and Said Mohammed Mohsen, were arrested Friday at the Sheraton hotel near Frankfurt's international airport following a U.S. request for their arrest with a view to extradition.
German officials say al-Moayyed, 58, is suspected of organizing logistics for al-Qaida in Yemen. Mohsen is believed to be in his mid-20s and to have played a less important role in the terrorist organization.
The suspects are being held in a high-security prison near the city, where they have been ordered detained pending a ruling on their case.
Washington has 40 days to supply a formal extradition request with any additional supporting evidence, Justice Ministry spokeswoman Eva Schmierer said. A U.S. Embassy official said the request would be filed shortly.
Yemen has not accused the two men of any crimes but has formally requested their return because they are Yemeni citizens, Schmierer said.
Once the Frankfurt state court rules on the case, the German government will have to decide what to do with the men, Schmierer said.
"I can't say how long the process will last," she added.
German courts do not recognize extrajudicial holding facilities, such as the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, so they would likely demand the men be brought before a U.S. court. Germany also refuses to extradite anyone who could face the death penalty.
Following the arrests, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin recommended that Germans whose presence in Yemen isn't essential leave the country.
Al-Moayyed, a leading member of Yemen's Islamic-oriented Reform party and a former legislator, suffers from asthma and diabetes and left Yemen for Germany 10 days ago for medical treatment, officials in Yemen said.
In Yemen, the Reform party protested al-Moayyed's arrest, saying it could have been a mistake stemming from a recent government report detailing terrorist operations in the country from 1997-2002 that accused opposition parties of backing terrorism.
Al-Moayyed's son, Ibrahim, criticized Washington for randomly detaining people on suspicion of belonging to al-Qaida. He said his father's poor health and support of charity movements should be taken into account.
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