A Canadian man, who has been accused of supporting a deadly terror group in Iraq and conspiring to kill Americans abroad, will fight extradition to the U.S.
Bob Aloneissi, the Edmonton lawyer representing Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, said Thursday outside the court that his client is up against "some of the most serious charges an individual can face."
"I think any Canadian would want to stay in Canada to answer to charges," he added.
Sharif made a brief court appearance on Thursday where the matter was put over for one week. Aloneissi said that the extradition process could take months.
"There will be a period of about 60 days and then an extradition hearing will be set, probably within the next six months or so," Alonesissi said.
"And then the extradition judge will decide if he should be extradited. And then the (federal justice) minister will decide whether to give the consent to extradition as well."
Sharif was arrested Wednesday at the request of the FBI.
The 38-year-old who lives in Edmonton and is married and has children, also goes by the aliases "Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa," and "Tahir Sharif Sayfildin."
U.S. authorities allege that while living in Canada, Sharif supported a multinational terrorist network that took part in a deadly suicide bombing in Iraq in April 2009.
The attack at the U.S. military's forward operating base Marez in Mosul, Iraq, killed five U.S. soldiers.
Sharif faces a life sentence if convicted.
RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb said the RCMP's role so far has been one of providing support to the year-long investigation carried out by the FBI.
"The role of the RCMP in this one is to get this individual arrested," Webb told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
"He was arrested, and now the role of the RCMP is to get him through the court system. The U.S. will be working with the courts trying to make sure he is extradited to the U.S. to face these charges."
He said scant details are being released about the investigation, in order to protect the integrity of the legal case.
Raymond Tanter, a former senior staff member of the U.S. National Security Council, said that after speaking to his ex-colleagues he was confident that the evidence against Sharif would "stand up for the extradition" request.
"Either he's going to be extradited to the United States or he will be charged in Canada," Tanter told CTV's Power Play.
The RCMP are carrying out their own investigation to determine whether there was any criminal activity in Canada.
"The arrest yesterday was solely to get him into the extradition process," Webb said, adding that it can sometimes take years for the extradition process to reach completion.
White House spokesperson Tommy Vietor told The Canadian Press in an email the U.S. is working closely with Canada "to address common threats to North American security.
"Prime Minister (Stephen) Harper has frequently said that terrorist threats to one of our countries are threats to both countries, and we agree."
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Sharif was detained Wednesday on an arrest warrant after officials filed a complaint with the court in the Eastern District of New York on Jan. 14.
The complaint states that the 2009 bombing occurred after a Tunisian jihadist, "whose travel to and activities in Iraq were facilitated by the terrorist network," drove a truck laden with explosives to the gate of the Marez base.
After the bomber exchanged gunfire with both Iraqi police officers and a convoy of U.S. soldiers exiting the base, the truck exploded about 50 yards from the gate as the last truck in the convoy was passing by. The blast left a 60-foot crater and killed five.
U.S. officials also accuse the group of carrying out another suicide bombing in March of that same year at a police station in which seven Iraqis died.
The charges against Sharif stem from evidence obtained via wiretaps and search warrants authorized by Canadian courts, U.S. officials said.
In the complaint, U.S. officials said the accused spoke with a member of the alleged terror group the day after the Marez bombing and said of the bomber "he was one of the Tunisian brothers."
The March attack was carried out by two other Tunisian jihadists who travelled to Iraq with the bomber from the Marez bombing.
None of the allegations against Sharif have been proven in court.
With files from The Canadian Press
