Man Wanted in Oregon Terror Camp Plot Extradited From Czech Republic

PRAGUE, Czech Republic – A Lebanese-born Swede wanted on suspicion of plotting to set up a terrorist camp in Oregon was extradited to the United States on Tuesday, officials said.

Czech Justice minister Jiri Pospisil ruled on Sept 18 there was no reason to refuse a U.S. extradition request for Oussama Kassir, spokeswoman Zuzana Kuncova said.

Kassir was arrested on Dec. 11, 2005, at Prague's Ruzyne international airport while flying from Stockholm, Sweden, to Beirut, Lebanon. The United States requested his extradition in February 2006.

The U.S. complaint alleges that Kassir and others conspired to establish a training camp for holy war, or jihad, in Bly, Ore. According to the complaint, Kassir and others wanted to set up the camp to teach military-style methods so a community of Muslims could move to Afghanistan to fight or receive further training there.

Authorities in Oregon have said the camp never materialized beyond a dozen people taking target practice and was abandoned for unknown reasons.

The complaint refers to a letter faxed from one alleged conspirator to another saying that the Bly property was in a "pro-militia and firearms state" that "looks just like Afghanistan" and that the group was "stockpiling weapons and ammunition."

The complaint said that on Nov. 26, 1999, Kassir and another conspirator traveled from London to New York and then to Seattle and Bly to help with the training camp. Bly is an unincorporated town of a few hundred residents, 50 miles east of Klamath Falls.

Kassir was born in Lebanon and moved to Sweden in 1984. He became a citizen five years later. He spent several months in prison in 1998 for assaulting a police officer and drug possession.

A Swedish court jailed Kassir for 10 months two years ago for illegal weapons possession.