Romania extradites two to US in terrorism case

NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) Two men facing US terrorism charges for suspicion of supplying Colombian rebels with weapons were extradited from Romania to the United States today, US authorities said.

It was the first time Romania has extradited anyone charged with terrorism to the United States, the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan said.

Tareq Mousa al Ghazi, of Lebanon, and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, of Marbella, Spain, appeared today in Manhattan federal court to face charges of helping supply millions of dollars in weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The United States brands the FARC as a terrorist group.

''It remains to be seen whether my client has any involvement,'' Ghazi's lawyer Glenn Garber said after the hearing.

Ghazi, 60, and Moreno Godoy, 58, were arrested in June for working with suspected Syrian arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar, also of Marbella, to provide the weapons for FARC in 2006 and 2007 knowing they would be used to protect cocaine-trafficking businesses and attack US forces, authorities said.

According to the indictment, both men knew FARC kidnapped US citizens to dissuade American efforts to disrupt the cocaine trade, the indictment said.

Ghazi worked with Kassar for the past 30 years brokering weapons transactions, while Moreno Godoy managed Kassar's finances for 10 years, including the bank accounts used to conduct weapons transactions, the indictment said.

Both men face charges of conspiring to kill US nationals and officers, conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles and providing support to a terrorist organization. They will be arraigned on Thursday.

The United States is also seeking the extradition of Kassar, known as the ''Prince of Marbella,'' who has been accused of arming militants from Iraq to Nicaragua for decades.

REUTERS CS BST0332