BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Lebanon turned over to Australia a Jordanian-Australian wanted on terror charges in a move by the government designed to combat global terrorism.
A security source told United Press International Wednesday that Saleh Gamal, 31, was handed to Australian police at Beirut's airport on Tuesday night as part of the extradition process.
Gamal was arrested by the Lebanese authorities in May 2004 and sentenced to five years in prison for involvement in armed attacks, holding a forged passport, illegal possession of weapons and forming an armed group with the aim of undermining state security.
His sentence was later reduced to two years in prison, which he served at Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, before extradition.
Gamal left Australia in March 2004 with a forged Australian passport while being tried in absentia in New South Wales on charges of attacking a police station in Sydney in 1998.
An Australian police spokeswoman said the procedures for repatriating Gamal were completed before the war broke out between Hezbollah and Israel, leading to the closure of Beirut's airport and the postponement of Gamal's extradition.
