Germany OKs extradition of Yemenis
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A German court has approved the extradition of two Yemeni men to the United States to face charges of supplying weapons, recruits and millions of dollars to the al Qaeda terror network, a spokesman for Brooklyn's U.S. attorney's office has said.
Mohammed Al Hasan Al-Moayad, 54, of Sanaa, Yemen, and Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, 29, also of Yemen, were arrested January 10 in Frankfurt, Germany, based on complaints issued in New York.
"We are pleased with the decision and look forward to bringing them back and prosecuting them in the U.S.," assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Hruska told CNN.
He said the court approved the extradition on the condition the men not face the death penalty.
Hruska said the extradition ruling needs final approval from the German government and would not say how quickly the men might be physically moved from Frankfurt to New York.
Al-Moayad -- a leading member of Yemen's Islamic-oriented Reform Party and a Muslim cleric -- is suspected of supplying "money, recruits, weapons and communication equipment to al Qaeda, Hamas, and other Islamic extremist groups," a Justice Department statement said. Zayed is believed to be his assistant.
Al-Moayad had boasted that he delivered more than $20 million to bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks, with much of the money coming from contributors in the United States, according to the Justice Department.