PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) — Three men accused of plotting to bomb a fuel pipeline leading to New York's John F. Kennedy International airport will be extradited from Trinidad and Tobago to face trial in the United States, a high court judge here ruled Monday.
Judge Nolan Bereaux ruled that there are "clear advantages" to the case being heard by "the domestic court in the United States" rather than in Trinidad.
The three defendants -- Guyanese nationals Abdul Kadir and Abdel Nur, and Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahiim -- have been given one week to appeal before being extradited for trial to be held in a New York federal court.
The accused have appealed the extradition orders by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls on August 6, last year, and petitioned the local courts to order their release.
The men face several conspiracy charges in their alleged plot to bomb JFK airport and the nearby public transportation system.
According to Bereaux, the US government gave assurances that the defendants would not be prosecuted by a military commission or in any venue other than US federal court.
The men argued that they were forced by an agent of the New York police to commit the crime and complained that it would be oppressive and unjust to be extradited to the United States, where adverse publicity would make it difficult to get a fair trial.
If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
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