Trinidad To Extradite 5 Men Wanted In US Veteran's Death
(no wonders you spend so much time in China - its much safer there eh?)
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP)--Five men accused in the kidnapping and killing of a U.S. veteran will be extradited to the U.S., a government spokesman said Friday.
Attorney General John Jeremie has signed off on the U.S. extradition request in the slaying of Balram Bachu Maharaj, said Maxie Cuffie, a spokesman for the attorney general, who couldn't say when the papers were signed or when the men will be extradited.
Three gunmen snatched Maharaj, 62, of Mount Vernon, N.Y., from a bar on the outskirts of Port-of-Spain in April 2005 and held him for ransom. Maharaj's remains were found cut up and buried in two holes in a forest in January.
A grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted on Wednesday the five - two who are soldiers - with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, Cuffie said.
The decision to extradite the men follows a meeting between Jeremie and the U.S. Attorney General at a conference in the Dominican Republic earlier this week. Six other persons have also been charged in Maharaj's killing by Trinidadian authorities and will likely be sent to the U.S. to stand trial, Cuffie said.
Authorities in the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago reported a record 389 killings and more than 60 kidnappings for ransom in 2005. Five, including Maharaj, were killed.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2006 17:49 ET (21:49 GMT)
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