MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil Sends Terror Suspect to Paraguay

A man suspected of financing the Islamic militant group Hezbollah from a border region where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil converge has been extradited to Paraguay to face tax evasion charges, Brazilian officials said Tuesday.

Assad Ahmad Barakat, who has acknowledged being a Hezbollah sympathizer, was flown to the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, on Monday, said Brazil justice ministry spokeswoman Marina Oliveira.

Paraguayan officials have said seized bank records raised suspicions that Barakat could have been illegally funneling large sums of money to the Middle East from his electronics business in Ciudad del Este, just across the border from Brazil.

Brazil's supreme court approved the extradition on the condition that Barakat will not be extradited from Paraguay to any other country without Brazilian approval, Oliveira said.

The court also said Barakat, a Lebanese immigrant, cannot be interrogated by authorities from third countries without Brazil's permission.

"This was a controversial case in which the Brazilian government suffered a great deal of pressure from the U.S. State Department and from the government of Lebanon, which argued that the U.S. was making unfair accusations against Barakat for terrorism," Oliveira said.

Paraguayan authorities ordered Barakat's detention after officials raided his shop in 2001 and found documents, videotapes and other material said to promote Hezbollah.

He avoided detention by Paraguayan authorities by living in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, just across the border from Ciudad del Este, with his wife and three children. He eventually was taken into custody by Brazil while the extradition process began.

The "Triple Border" region, considered a haven for arms traffickers, smugglers and counterfeiters, is a porous area where passport checks are rare. The area, home to about 20,000 Lebanese Muslims, has been described by the U.S. State Department as a "focal point for Islamic extremism in Latin America." Barakat told The Associated Press in 2001 he sympathized with Hezbollah, whose name in Arabic means "Party of God," but he denied any links to the group. His only financial contributions were to support the orphan of a Hezbollah fighter, he said.

"Yes, I am a sympathizer of the Party of God. But that does not mean that I support terrorism or terrorists," said Barakat, who is in his mid-30s.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, named a terrorist organization by the State Department, battled Israeli troops in southern Lebanon until the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.

After the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, Paraguay began cracking down on Lebanese residents in Ciudad del Este. Anti-terrorism agents raided Barakat's wholesale electronics store, arrested two employees and seized videos and documents that a prosecutor said "encouraged young men to join Hezbollah's war against Israel and become suicide bombers."

Barakat blames his troubles on a rival Lebanese merchant.