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U.S. bids to extradite Algerian pilot

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The United States formally requested the extradition Tuesday of an Algerian pilot who U.S. officials have said helped train some of the hijackers of the September 11 terror attacks.

Lotfi Raissi, 27, was detained September 21 under Britain's antiterror act. However, no charges linking him to the terror attacks have been filed.

So far, Raissi has been charged with falsifying Federal Aviation Administration documents and for not disclosing a 1993 criminal conviction on his visa application.

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Read the indictments (FindLaw) (PDF) 
U.S. v. Raissi and Dahmani (November 27, 2001)

U.S. v. Lotfi Raissi  (October 9, 2001)
 

Prosecutors in Phoenix, Arizona, filed 11 more counts Tuesday against Raissi, accusing him of making false statements to help get asylum in the United States for another Algerian, Redouane Dahmani.

The government alleges Raissi and Dahmani prepared a false affidavit and submitted a false application in January 2000 in support of Dahamani's asylum application.

Dahmani is alleged to have aided Haydar Abu Doha, an Algerian the United States has accused of conspiring to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport around New Year's 2000.

In London, with the United States pressing for extradition, a judge denied bail for Raissi, saying he was a flight risk because of the possibility that U.S. prosecutors might link him to the terror attacks.

The prosecutors at Tuesday's hearing did not shed any light onto allegations that Raissi could be connected to the September 11 attacks. Prosecutors only alleged Raissi had made false statements.

Raissi was living near London's Heathrow airport with his French wife Sonia when he was arrested two months ago. He was training to obtain a European flying license, necessary under Algerian regulations to seek a job in an airline company.

Raissi had spent the previous year studying in the United States for his pilot qualifications.

It was at a flight school in Arizona, according to the United States, that Raissi had close ties with Hani Hanjour, believed to have piloted the commercial airliner that crashed into the Pentagon.

The United States has no proof of any connection, Raissi's lawyer, Richard Egan, said.

"His treatment by the hands of the United States has been nothing short of outrageous," Egan said. "He has been held in custody for two months on a wholly false basis."



 
 
 
 


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