Terror suspect feared FBI's influence in HK

Three men arrested for allegedly trying to obtain Stinger missiles for the al-Qaeda network have fired a parting shot at Hong Kong's handling of their case before being extradited to the United States

In a letter to the South China Morning Post, the alleged mastermind of the international drugs-for-missiles plot, Ilyas Ali, voiced concern at the 'unbelievable' influence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over Hong Kong authorities.

The trio were escorted under tight police security to a waiting US government plane at the Hong Kong International Airport and met by heavily-armed FBI agents for the extradition to San Diego early on Wednesday.

Syed Mustajab Shah, 54, Muhammed Abid Afridi, 29, both from Pakistan, and US citizen Ilyas Ali, 55, agreed in a surprise reversal in January to be sent to the US for trial moments before their extradition hearing began.

They were arrested on September 20 at the Conrad Hotel after allegedly offering undercover FBI agents five tonnes of hashish and 590kg of heroin in exchange for anti-aircraft Stinger missiles.

Ali, in a prison interview with the Post in January, claimed he was simple shopkeeper who knew nothing about 'guns, or drugs, or anything' and was an 'innocent victim' of an elaborate FBI sting.

And for the first time, in the letter written to the Post before extradition two days ago, Ali revealed why they decided to face trial in the US rather than Hong Kong. He wrote of concerns about the legal process in Hong Kong, the unseen power and 'influence' of the FBI over local authorities and of a greater faith in the 'truth' coming to light in the US.

'Now I know what it means to have politically motivated concerns,' he wrote. 'The influence of the FBI in Hong Kong is too great.'

He said the way they had been treated by Interpol officers was 'unbelievable' and included strip-searches, confiscation of writing and reading material, interrogations and exhaustive background checks.

He claimed they were naive conmen out to make a quick buck. 'We were misled and misguided. Guess it was our bad luck.'

A spokeswoman for the justice department said: 'We don't comment on operational matters.' The security bureau and police refused to even confirm if the men had been extradited. The US consulate also declined to comment.

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