AFP, Bucharest, 15 Jan 2013 – A former Romanian officer accused of illegally selling equipment to Iran will be extradited to the United States, judiciary sources said Tuesday.
Bucharest’s Court of Appeals admitted an extradition request from the US judicial authorities and ordered that Aurel Fratila be arrested and extradited before February 9.
Fratila is alleged to have sold to Iran aeronautical equipment that can be used by both civil and military aircraft.
Romania’s intelligence service SRI had for several years monitored Fratila, “whose firms were involved in selling products subject to an international embargo, “ the spokesman for the SRI, Sorin Sava, told AFP.
“This operation is a very good example of Romanian-US cooperation in intelligence and law enforcement,“ he added.
According to the www.iranwatch.org < /> website, Fratila was indicted in 2006 by the US Southern District of California Court alongside a presumed Iranian air force general.
The Romanian Defence Ministry said that Fratila had attended the Military Technical Academy of Bucharest between 1990 and 1996 and briefly served as an air force engineer in the spring of 1996.