Updated

A federal appeals court says a former Bosnian prison camp guard living in Virginia is eligible for extradition to his native country to face war-crimes charges.

The unanimous decision Wednesday by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a judge's ruling in the case of Almaz Nezirovic (AL'-mahz nezu-ROH'-vich) of Roanoke County.

Nezirovic, who came to the U.S. in 1997, is charged with torturing Serbians at the Rabic prison camp in 1992 during the Bosnian civil war. Bosnian officials charge that Nezirovic beat, humiliated and traumatized unarmed civilian prisoners.

The appeals court rejected a claim by Nezirovic that his extradition is barred because of the political nature of his actions at the prison. The court said the torture of civilians is not a political exercise.