US not seeking extradition of man held over arms find
Stabroek News
December 18, 2002
One of the men held in connection with the Good Hope arms cache find is wanted in the US on several charges but American authorities are not moving for his extradition as the offences are not covered under the existing treaty with Guyana.
Shaheed Khan is wanted in Burlington, Vermont for alleged offences committed in 1994. Khan and two other men, police officer Sean Belfield and Haroon Yahya were detained on December 4 by an army patrol and turned over to the Police following the discovery of a cache of arms and sophisticated electronic surveillance equipment in a pick-up at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
In 1994, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warrant for Khan's arrest. The warrant said Khan was being sought for being a felon in possession of a firearm, which had been shipped or transported in interstate commerce, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Dave Turner a spokesman for the US Marshals Service in Washington DC told Stabroek News yesterday that the US Marshals Service will not be moving for Khan's extradition "as the offences for which he is wanted are not included in the specifications of our existing extradition treaty with Guyana".
A US Embassy official also told Stabroek News that when Khan was arrested enquiries were made of the US Department of Justice and the US State Department but both indicated that no move would be made to have him extradited as the treaty did not cover the offences for which he is wanted.
There has been a public outcry over the failure of the police to charge the men following the December 4 interception. The Police have attributed the delay to the need to conclude investigations including getting the statements from the members of the army patrol, who originally detained the men, in a form that could be presented in court in support of whatever charges are laid.
Khan, Belfield and Yahya were each released on $500,000 bail on December 9 by a High Court judge after the police failed to charge them.
