British Request Extradition of Terror Suspect Detained in Thailand
By Zachary Abuza
The British government has formally requested the extradition of the Algerian man arrested by Thai authorities who is wanted in conjunction with the 7/7 attacks in London. A Thai court will soon rule on the extradition request.
Atamnia Yachine (33) was arrested in Bangkok last week in possession of some 186 fake French and Spanish passports. Authorites tracked him down in the ongoing investigation of another ethnic Algerian (though British citizen), Mahiededine Daikh, who was arrested on 2 August at Bangkoks airport in possession of 452 fake passports.
Yachine has long been a suspect in the sale of forged documents. According to press reports, British authorities issued a warrant for Atamnia Yachines arrest in 1995 when his fingerprints were found on a parcel that contained 200 passports. British police believe that Yachine supplied fake travel documents to the London bombers.
That Thai authorities have made two recent seizures of 638 passports is commendable, but it highlights the fact that Thailand remains an important back office especially for forged documents for trans-national criminal organization and terrorist organizations. Yet, Thai authorities deserve significant credit for substantially tightening their border controls at the Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Documents receive far greater scrutiny while all foreigners are digitally photographed on arrival and departure.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/mt/pings.cgi/1882
