Singapore: A Singaporean court on Friday cleared
the extradition of four of its nationals, including a woman,
to the US to face trial for illegally exporting radio
components to Iran that later ended up in Iraqi homemade
roadside bombs targeting coalition forces.
The three men, Lim Kow Seng, Lim Yong Nam and Benson Hia
Soon Guan, and a woman, Wong Yuh Lan, were alleged to have
exported US-made radio equipment to Iran that ended up in
bombs targeting coalition forces in Iraq.
The charges on them include conspiracy to defraud the US,
smuggling and illegal export of goods from the US to Iran, the
Channel News Asia reported.
The four accused have 15 days to appeal against the
extradition to face a trial in the US.
An Iranian national, Hossein Larijani, is also accused of
masterminding the illegal export, but he remains on the run,
the report said.
The four were arrested last October for illegally
exporting radio equipment from the US to Iran, through
Singapore, for the purpose of being used in homemade
roadside bombs.
The US Justice Department had then said that the
four allegedly shipped some 6,000 frequency modules from a
company in Minnesota to Singapore, and then sent it to Iran,
where at least 16 were found in remote detonation systems for
improvised explosive devices in Iraq.
Washington has welcomed the judgement today.
The US Ambassador to Singapore, David Adelman, said
the ruling reflected the strong spirit of cooperation between
the United States and Singapore in combating transnational
crime, including the illicit trade in arms and equipment that
could pose significant threats to the US and the international
community.
Adelman expressed US`s appreciation of the Singapore
government`s support in this case.
He added that the US looked forward to continuing close
ties on other important law enforcement issues, according to
the report.
PTI
