A Filipino suspect in a thwarted jihadist plot targeting New York’s subway and Times Square will face legal proceedings seeking his extradition to the United States, the Philippine justice secretary said on Sunday.
Russell Salic and two others have been charged with involvement in the plan to stage the attacks in the name of the Islamic State group during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2016.
Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April 2017 and Washington had requested his extradition, the US Department of Justice said.
“It only means that we have to begin the extradition proceedings being requested,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said in a statement, without giving a timeframe.
“We have a process to be followed and this has been done many times in the past.”
Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año said on Sunday that Salic was in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Salic, a 37-year-old Filipino doctor, transferred $423 in May 2016 to the other suspects to help fund the operation, according to US court documents released on Friday.
Multiple locations including New York’s subway, Times Square and some concert venues were identified as targets in the plot that was foiled by an undercover FBI agent, US authorities said.
The agent posed as an IS supporter and communicated with Salic and his two alleged accomplices -- Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 19-year-old Canadian who purchased bombmaking materials, and Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old American citizen living in Pakistan.
A complaint signed by the agent quoted messages sent by Salic to others involved in the plot in which he described terror laws in the Philippines as “not strict” in comparison to countries such as Australia and the UK.
Salic was an orthopedic surgeon associated with a hospital in the southern Philippine city of Cagayan de Oro, the complaint said.
Año said Salic supported the Islamic State and sent funds to other nations for the group’s terror network.
“He has been supporting the ISIS itself. He is providing financial support to several extremists or suspicious terrorists in the Middle East, in the US, Malaysia,” he added.
The military chief said Salic is not related to former Marawi mayor Omar Solitario Salic, who was included in the list politicians allegedly involved in illegal drugs.
Salic is also under investigation in the Philippines for kidnapping and murder, according to the Palace.
“The Philippines shares information and extends full cooperation with partners on matters pertaining to terrorism,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
FP WITH DEMPSEY REYES