Russian held in Afghanistan to be tried in US

KABUL (Pajhwok): A Russian citizen, who is currently held at a detention facility in central Parwan province, would be transferred to the United States for trial by a federal court, a report said on Friday.

Irek Hamidullan, who is suspected of fighting alongside the militants and leading several deadly attacks on the US troops in Afghanistan, will be the first foreign fighter to be sent from Afghanistan to the US for prosecution.

A number of third-country citizens, still held at the Bagram prison, were being considered for trial in the United States, the Washington Post reported. Hamidullan’s transfer would be a step forward for the Pentagon in its attempts to empty the detention centre by the end of 2014.

The Obama administration, which weighed the decision for months, recently Congress that Hamidullan would be flown to the US. Congress has not enacted a similar law barring the movement of detainees held in Afghanistan.

“The president’s national security team examined this matter and unanimously agreed that prosecution of this detainee in federal court was the best disposition option in this case,” said National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.

A veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the Russian in his 50s ended up fighting against American forces that invaded the country to oust the Taliban. He was wounded during an attack in 2009 on an Afghan border post before being captured.

PAN Monitor/mud

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