US authorities have arrested an Arizona resident, suspected of being a leader of an al-Qaeda* cell in Iraq and who was charged with murder in the Middle Eastern country, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said in a statement.
"On January 31, 2020, a Phoenix-area resident, who is alleged to have been the leader of a group of Al-Qaeda terrorists in Al-Fallujah, Iraq, appeared today before a federal magistrate judge in Phoenix, Arizona in connection with proceedings to extradite him to the Republic of Iraq. He is wanted to stand trial in Iraq for two charges of premeditated murder committed in 2006 in Al-Fallujah", the statement says.
The suspect, Ali Yousif Ahmed Al-Nouri, 42, was arrested after the US received a request for his extradition from the Iraqi authorities.
According to information provided to the US authorities by the Iraqi government, Ahmed was the leader of a terrorist cell that planned operations against the Iraqi police.
He is suspected of participating in the killing of police officers in June and October 2006. According to the US Justice Department, the final decision on the extradition of the suspect will be made by the US State Department.
