Moscow cannot agree to Washington's conditions of extraditing Russian Talibs

Washington's condition of extraditing Russian Taliban fighters to Moscow contradict with the Russian legislation, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov told RIA Novosti on Thursday, when commenting on information in foreign mass media about the recent talks in the USA concerning the fate of the Russians taken prisoners by the US army.

"The American party insists on being given official guarantees that after extradition to Russia the prisoners will be convicted by Russian courts, which contradicts to the Russian domestic legislation, as in Russia the executive cannot exercise influence on the judiciary," Trubnikov explained.

Washington believes that the guarantees can be given in form of a special agreement or an exchange of diplomatic notes.

However, extradition of Russian citizens kept at the American base in Guantanamo is just a judicial issue, the deputy minister emphasized.

On Wednesday American mass media announced the names of 8 Russian Taliban fighters kept in Guantanamo. The names tallied with those earlier published by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office that according to US authorities needed checking.

Earlier the Prosecutor General's Office had pointed out that in Russia they all could be charged with illegal crossing of the Russian state border /article 322 of the Russian Criminal Code/ and mercenary /article 359/, with the maximum sentence being 7 years. However, the sentence could be longer if the USA or other representatives of the anti-Taliban coalition could provide evidence of more serious offences committed by these people.