Extradition in JFK Airport plot upheld

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad Appeals Court Judge Roger Hamel Smith on Monday rejected a defense argument that the three suspects, who claim they cannot get a fair trial in the U.S. because of publicity, could not legally be extradited under Trinidad law.

The three men face conspiracy charges. A fourth suspect, who worked as a cargo handler at the airport until 1995, is in custody in New York.

The suspects have denied allegations of participating in a terror cell that planned to blow up a jet fuel artery feeding the airport. Their lawyers argue that a government informant entrapped the men into plotting the attack, but that there never was any real threat.

A U.S. indictment charges the suspects with conspiring to "cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction."

Trinidadian suspect Kareem Ibrahim, a Muslim cleric, has been hospitalized since April after apparently suffering a mental breakdown. His lawyer said Ibrahim is in no shape to be extradited, and he plans to file another appeal.

Lawyers for the other two suspects, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, both from Guyana, were not available for comment.