World in brief: Iraq says it foiled World Cup attack
BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces have detained an al-Qaida militant suspected of planning an attack targeting the World Cup in South Africa next month, an official said Monday.
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security services, said Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani was an officer in the Saudi army. He is suspected of planning a “terrorist act” in South Africa during the World Cup beginning June 11, al-Moussawi told a news conference in Baghdad.
He said al-Qahtani entered Iraq in 2004 and is suspected in several attacks in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
In South Africa, a police spokesman said Iraq has not notified them of the arrest. “We have not received any official reports from them,” said Vish Naidoo. “Whatever arrest they made there, they know, we don’t know anything about it.”
Drug suspect to be extradited to U.S.
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s prime minister said Monday night he will allow the extradition of a man wanted by the U.S. on drug and arms trafficking charges, ending a nine-month standoff that strained relations with Washington.
The reversal by Prime Minister Bruce Golding came after mounting public discontent over his opposition to sending Christopher “Dudus” Coke to the U.S., a stand that raised questions about the reputed drug kingpin’s ties to the governing party.
The move also set up the challenge of arresting Coke, who allegedly controls a band of gunmen in the capital’s barricaded Tivoli Gardens area. The U.S. Justice Department lists Coke as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords.
As rumors of the government’s decision spread before the official announcement, the streets of downtown Kingston emptied as businesses and government agencies closed early out of fear of violence.
But Coke’s lawyer, Tom Tavares-Finson, said there would be no violence on his client’s insistence. He said Coke was prepared to fight extradition in court.
“For eight months the attorney general took a position based that there was not sufficient evidence to proceed. We’re putting together a legal team to approach the courts as soon as possible,” Tavares-Finson said.