Defendant To Appear In Court In Brooklyn On Charges Of Helping Orchestrate Truck Bombing In Iraq
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A defendant has been extradited and was set to appear in court in Brooklyn on Saturday, on charges that he helped orchestrate a terrorist attack that killed five servicemen in Iraq in 2009.
Faruq Khalil Muhammed 'Isa, also known as Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa, Sayfildin Tahir Sharif and Tahir Sharif Sayfildin, was extradited to the United States from Canada and was to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Court documents said 'Isa was charged in connection with his support for a multinational terrorist network that was blamed for several suicide bombings in Iraq. A complaint filed back in 2011 accused 'Isa of helping orchestrate an attack on the U.S. Military Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul on April 10, 2009, prosecutors said.
A truck full of explosives pulled up to the gate of the base, and those inside exchanged gunfire with Iraqi police officers guarding the base and with an American convoy exiting afterward, prosecutors said.
The truck blew up alongside the last vehicle in the U.S. convoy and left a 60-foot crater in the ground, prosecutors said. Five American soldiers were killed – 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 Pfc. Bryce E. Gaultier, 22 of Cyprus, California, prosecutors said.
"Today's extradition demonstrates to those who orchestrate violence against our citizens and our soldiers that there is no corner of the globe from which they can hide from the long reach of the law," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a news release. "We will continue to use every available means to bring to justice those who are responsible for the deaths of American servicemen and women who paid the ultimate price in their defense of this nation."
If convicted, 'Isa faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, prosecutors said.
