Terror suspects drop fight

last updated 8 January 2015

Hong Kong

Three men caught trying to procure missiles for al Qaida said this week that they would not fight their extradition to the United States. The FBI caught Syed Saadat Ali Faraz and Muhammad Abid Afridi, both Pakistanis, and Ilyas Ali, a Pakistani-born American, in a sting operation in Hong Kong last September. The three men allegedly sought to trade tons of hash and heroin for four Stingers—shoulder-launched missiles that can shoot down aircraft—which they said they would sell to al Qaida. The men did not say why they agreed to be extradited. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the case was an example “of the toxic combination of drugs and terrorism and the threats they can pose to our national security.”