Britain ‘to extradite Paris bombings terror suspect’

Britain has agreed to extradite to France a suspected member of an extremist Islamic network behind the 1995 Paris Metro bombings, France’s Justice Ministry said tonight.

Rachid Ramda, suspected of being a member of Algeria’s Armed Islamic Group, is believed to have been a banker for a network that claimed responsibility for the 1995 bombings, which killed 11 people and injured more than 100.

The Home Office agreed to hand over Ramda in connection with an investigation by French officials into attacks on the Paris underground, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said Britain’s decision to extradite Ramda indicated ‘‘the strengthening of co-operation among European partners in the fight against terrorism’’.

French prosecutors have issued three international arrest warrants for Ramda. Britain, where he was taken into custody in 1997, had previously refused to extradite Ramda.

Ramda can appeal against the extradition decision.

Two other suspects - alleged bomb expert Smain Ait Belkacem and alleged network co-ordinator Boualem Bensaid - were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in September 1999 for ‘‘criminal association in relation with a terrorist enterprise’’, a broad charge used by France to prosecute suspected terrorists.