Albania agrees to extradite suspect in alleged attack plot

TIRANA, Albania – An Albanian court agreed Friday to extradite a 24-year-old man to Germany to face charges that he belonged to a cell that planned terror attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group.

The district court in Tirana decided that Komron Zukhurov should not be extradited to Russia, where he is also wanted, or to his native Tajikistan, where he claims he was tortured.

Zukhurov was arrested in Albania in May after a German court issued an international warrant accusing him of being part of a group that made plans for attacks in Germany.

Four other Tajiks suspected of being IS members were arrested in Germany on the same charge. German authorities said they joined the extremist group in January 2019, received instructions to form a cell in Germany and were planning an attack on American military facilities.

Zukhurov’s defence lawyer, Asllan Dogjani, denied his client participated in the alleged activity. Before his arrest, Zukhurov had lived in Germany for two years and went to Albania in February to see his aunt, Dogjani said, adding that the young man turned himself in to police.