EXTRADITION: SUPREME COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION OF

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001966 SIPDIS STATE FOR L/LEI AND EUR/UBI JUSTICE FOR OIA/JFRIEDMAN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CJAN PTER PREL CVIS KCRM NL SUBJECT: EXTRADITION: SUPREME COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION OF DUTCH TERRORIST SUSPECT WESAM AL DAELEMA REF: 05 STATE 209831 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The Dutch Supreme Court ruled September 5 that Iraqi-born Dutch citizen Wesam Al Daelema may be extradited to the United States to face terrorism charges. Al Daelema was the first individual to be indicted in a U.S. criminal case for terrorist activities in Iraq. In fighting his extradition, Al Daelema has argued that he would not receive a fair trial in the United States and that he would be at risk of torture or treatment as an enemy combatant if extradited. The Minister of Justice is expected to issue an extradition order expeditiously. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The decision in the Al Daelema case is the first Supreme Court ruling on the extradition of a Dutch national charged with terrorist offences. The text of the opinion has not yet been released. Press coverage of the decision has highlighted the arguments raised by the defense in the initial extradition proceedings that Al Daelema would face mistreatment if extradited to the United States, and that he should be tried in the Netherlands, where an investigation on similar charges had begun before the U.S. extradition request was made in September 2005. ¶3. (SBU) Al Daelema is expected to exercise the option available in all extradition cases to present additional arguments to the Justice Minister against his approving the extradition. A Justice Ministry contact told us September 7 she expected the Minister to approve the extradition order in four to six weeks. She stressed that the Ministry wanted to ensure that the justification statement accompanying the extradition order would readily withstand any further legal appeals by the defense. Post will track further developments in the case closely. ¶4. (SBU) BACKGROUND. Al Dalaema was indicted in September 2005 on six charges, including conspiracy to kill American citizens abroad and conspiracy to use an explosive to maliciously damage or destroy U.S. government property, in connection with attacks on U.S. military personnel in Iraq in 2003. In November 2005, the USG provided supplemental "assurances" to the GONL that Al Dalaema would be tried in the Federal criminal justice system as a normal criminal defendant and not be treated as an "enemy combatant," to forestall a successful defense argument that extradition be ruled inadmissible due to the possibility of extra-judicial treatment. The Rotterdam District Court ruled his extradition permissible in December 2005. The Supreme Court heard Al Daelema's appeal in April 2006, but recessed for the summer before issuing its decision. ARNALL