USA to extradite captive Russian Taliban

Russia and the USA are discussing extradition terms for Russian nationals from among the Taliban fighters taken prisoner in the Afghan operations and presently detained at the US Guantanamo military base, reports Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs press and information department.

Russian experts on the federal Prosecutor-General's staff and their American counterparts are discussing legal technicalities of extradition, which implies subsequent criminal prosecution. There are a total eight Russian nationals at Guantanamo now--all practising Muslims. Their names fully correspond to the top prosecutor's previously published black list, of which US authorities demanded verification, add Foreign Ministry PR.

The men will be charged in Russia with illegal Russian frontier crossing and mercenary service (Penal Code, Clauses 322 and 359, respectively). They will face seven years in prison if the verdicts are at their severest. Imprisonment will be even longer in case experts of the US or another country on the anti-Taliban coalition provide evidence of the suspects' graver crimes, the top prosecutor's PR say.