Canadian man facing U.S. terrorism charges to fight extradition

CALGARY Alberta (Reuters) - A Canadian man facing extradition to the United States on charges he helped orchestrate two deadly bombings in Iraq may appeal to Canada's top court after a lower court on Monday supported government efforts to deport him. In a unanimous decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal rejected Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa's bid to overturn an 2011 extradition order that would send the naturalized Canadian citizen to the United States. Nathan Whitling, one of Isa's lawyers, said he had not yet spoken to his client, but expects the ruling to be challenged. "He may seek leave to further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada," Whitling said. "We just got the decision a short time ago but we expect we will get instructions to do that." The United States accuses Isa of being part of a network behind the 2009 suicide bombings of an Iraqi police station that killed seven and a U.S. military base that killed five American soldiers and an unspecified number of Iraqis. The Canadian government ordered his extradition last year based on evidence supplied by the U.S. government. In its ruling, the appeals court rejected arguments that the U.S. information was obtained by torture and that Isa's rights had been breached. Isa faces charges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York of conspiracy to murder Americans abroad and of providing material support to terrorist conduct, as well as five counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. nationals abroad. The case was The Attorney General of Canada on Behalf of the United States of America vs. Faruq Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa also known as Khalil Muhammad ‘Isa, Sayfildin Tahir Sharif and Tahir Sharif Sayfildin. (Reporting by Scott Haggett; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Jonathan Oatis)