By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Iraqi-born Dutch citizen is facing terror charges in what the Justice Department calls the United States' first criminal prosecution of attacks targeting Americans in Iraq.
Wesam al-Delaema, 32, was scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington Monday to face terrorism conspiracy charges, said Justice spokesman Dean Boyd. Al-Delaema, who was extradited from the Netherlands over the weekend, will become the first suspect tried in a US court for alleged terrorism in Iraq's bloody insurgency.
Netherlands officials said he also is charged with possession of explosives. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Al-Delaema claims he is innocent and his lawyers have argued that the United States does not have the right to try him.