Sayfildin Tahir Sharif faces extradition to U.S. after Supreme Court decision
CBC News | Posted: January 15, 2015 4:41 PM | Last Updated: January 15, 2015
Edmonton man accused of conspiracy to kill Americans in Iraq
A Canadian man wanted on terrorism charges in the United States faces extradition after the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his case Thursday.
Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, also known as Faruq Khalil Muhammed ‘Isa or Khalil Muhammdn ‘Isa, is accused of conspiracy to kill Americans and of supporting a terrorist group that took part in a 2009 suicide bombing in Iraq.
The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled in August 2014 that Sharif should be sent to the U.S. Sharif sought leave to appeal that ruling but on Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Sharif's lawyer, Nathan Whitling, expects his client will be surrendered to the United States within the next day or two.
He is disappointed the court declined to hear the case, but adds it can be very hard to be granted leave to appeal.
“We thought this one had some very meritorious grounds of appeal, but apparently they were not enough to get the Supreme Court’s attention," he said.
Sharif will now be preparing for his trial in New York state with a U.S. lawyer, Whitling said.
Sharif is a Canadian citizen who is originally from Iraq. He came to Canada in 1993.
Sharif was arrested in January 2011 at the request of the U.S. government at his apartment in Edmonton, where he was living with his common-law wife and her children.
He has been held in custody since then.
Five American soldiers were killed in a blast on April 10, 2009, near the gate of Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq. The dead included Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods, 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky., Sgt. First Class Bryan E. Hall, 32, of Elk Grove, Calif., Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis, Mo., Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa, and Army Pte. First Class, Bryce E. Gaultier, 22, from Cyrus, Calif.