Austria to give Chechen suspected of terrorism out of Belgium

On February 1, the Austrian court decided to extradite Aslambek L., 32, a native of Chechnya, who was arrested in December 2010, to Belgium, where he is suspected of terrorist activities.

As reported earlier by the spokesman of the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the refugee from Chechnya, who lived in Austria with his wife and two children, was arrested on December 1 at the Vienna airport "Schwechat" on his return from Saudi Arabia. The arrest was made under the warrant issued by Belgian authorities, who had revealed a plot to attack NATO objects located in Belgium.

As reported by the "Associated Press" with reference to Leo Levnaich-Ivanski, the spokesman of the Vienna Court of Appeal, now the two countries clarify details of extradition.

According to Russian sources, Aslambek L. is a supporter of Dokku Umarov, leader of "Imarat Kavkaz", and a member of the terrorist grouping based in Antwerp, Belgium, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

In the course of a special operation conducted in late November by law enforcement agencies of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, 11 members of the extremist grouping named "Sharia for Belgium" were arrested; one of the aims of the grouping was to recruit "fighters for jihad and creation of a Sharia state in Northern Caucasus."

The grouping consisted of Arabs and natives of Morocco and Chechnya. The arrested Aslambek L. is suspected of links with the Islamists, responsible for a series of attacks in Russia. "This man was in charge of logistics support of the grouping," The BBC quotes Rudolf Gollia, spokesman of the Austrian MIA.

The Chechen lived in the small town of Neukirchen in Lower Austria and caused no suspicion. According to local mayor, the arrest of the refugee was a complete surprise.