UAE to extradite Sudan opposition group figure soon

By Muawia E. Ibrahim

ABU DHABI, Nov 23, 2004 (Khaleej Times) — Sudanese opposition military leader Abdul Aziz Khalid will be extradited by the UAE in a couple of days, a close source told Khaleej Times yesterday. “He will be handed over tomorrow or in a couple of days to the Sudanese authorities,” the source said.

He said a high-level security delegation was expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi to finalise the extradition of Mr Khalid, a former army general who is wanted by Khartoum on charges of terrorist acts. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ruled out speculations that Khalid might be turned over to Interpol in Damascus or Tunis from where he would be transferred to Khartoum.

A decision to extradite Khalid has been issued by the UAE public prosecutor, sources said. The Sudanese former general was arrested in September upon arrival on a flight from Egypt at the Abu Dhabi International Airport on the basis of a notice issued by Interpol, based on a request by the Sudanese authorities, accusing him of committing terrorist acts in Sudan, according to UAE authorities. The source said that the Khartoum request was based on Mr Khalid’s involvement in rebel operations along Sudan’s eastern border.

His northern opposition group Sudan Alliance Forces (SAF) was responsible for a number of attacks on oil pipelines and government forces in the 1990s and was accused of carrying out strikes against the government in the eastern front, according to Khartoum government.

Khalid’s lawyers in Abu Dhabi were fighting a legal battle against Khartoum to get him released. But a team of top Sudanese lawyers, including a former public prosector, visited Abu Dhabi and convinced his lawyers that Khalid’s case was weak.

In the meantime, a high-ranking official was believed to have interfered in the case and twisted it to a political one to convince the UAE to extradite him, the source said.