LOS ANGELES : Father Who Took Boy to Iraq Arraigned After Extradition

A man accused of snatching his 2-year-old son and stealing him away to Iraq was arraigned Friday, a day after he was extradited from England.

Haitham Khalid Al-Nasseri, 33, was charged with illegally taking his son, Laith, to Iraq in July. Al-Nasseri, who was brought back to Southern California on Thursday, was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

The boy and his mother, Michelle Al-Nasseri, were reunited in September, moments after Scotland Yard authorities arrested his father at London’s Heathrow Airport. Michelle Al-Nasseri had lured her ex-husband to the airport with promises of reconciliation.

Haitham Al-Nasseri, a citizen of the United States and Iraq, disappeared with the child in July after his wife began divorce proceedings. He called from Iraq and demanded that she come there if she wanted to see Laith again. Al-Nasseri’s motive was to force his wife to reconcile and join him in Iraq, said her attorney, Michael Oddenino.

Al-Nasseri had threatened to steal the boy, prompting his wife to get a court order prohibiting him from taking the child out of California. He continued to have joint custody pending the divorce, and was able to take the child on weekend trips. Al-Nasseri claimed to be taking the boy camping when he flew him to Iraq, Oddenino said.

Al-Nasseri is charged with detention or concealment of a child with intent to deprive custody. That offense carries a maximum sentence of three years, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Budman said.