Suspected terrorist extradited to France
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-02 10:59

An Algerian man suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on the Paris subway a decade ago was extradited from Britain to France on Thursday, British and French officials said.

Rachid Ramda, who spent 10 years in jail in Britain, allegedly provided funds for the bombers of the July 1995 attack, which killed eight people and injured 87 on the Paris Metro system.

"Justice is finally going to be done," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in an interview with France-3 television, adding that he hoped a trial would take place "very quickly."

Ramda arrived in Paris on Thursday evening and was to be presented before Paris prosecutors office in connection with an international arrest warrant, the French Justice Ministry said.

The conclusion to Britain's longest-running extradition case follows a ruling last month. Two High Court judges rejected Ramda's appeal against extradition, ruling that Home Secretary Charles Clarke had acted legally earlier this year in ordering his extradition.

Ramda was arrested in Britain in 1995 as a suspect in the bombing, which was widely attributed to Algeria's militant Armed Islamic Group.

Supporters of a campaign to block extradition alleged that he could eventually be deported from France to Algeria, and claimed he could face execution there. The High Court judges said there was "no real risk" Ramda would be ill-treated in French custody or deported to Algeria.