Vietnamese National Extradited to U.S. over al-Qaida Link
A Vietnamese national has been extradited to the United States from Britain after being charged with traveling to Yemen to receive training at an al-Qaida camp, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.
Minh Quang Pham, 32, will appear in federal court in New York on Thursday to answer charges of providing support and receiving training from Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a statement said.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Pham had traveled "surreptitiously" to Yemen from Britain in late 2010 and spent six months in the country receiving instruction from al-Qaida operatives.
"During the half year he spent in Yemen, Pham allegedly vowed to wage jihad... and provided material support to high-level AQAP members, almost always brandishing a Kalashnikov rifle," Bharara said in a statement.
Federal Bureau of Investigation official Andrew McCabe said Pham had "received military-style training and possessed weapons to commit crimes of violence" on behalf of al-Qaida.
Pham was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport upon his return to Britain from Yemen in July 2011. A search of his belongings discovered electronic files setting out his links to AQAP as well as a live round of armor-piercing ammunition capable of being used in a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
He faces five separate charges under his U.S. indictment, including counts of receiving military training from al-Qaida and providing material support to the group.
If found guilty on all counts he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
AQAP was formed in 2009 after a merger between militants in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The group has been linked to a string of attacks since its formation, including the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in January.
The group was also behind an attempt to blow up an American airliner over Michigan on Christmas Day in 2009.
Source: Agence France Presse
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