Bombing Suspect Will Fight Extradition

A 42-year-old Baldwin Park man who was arrested last year on suspicion of trying to bomb the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand has decided to fight extradition rather than risk being returned to his homeland, his attorney said Thursday.

Van Duc Vo, who appeared in federal court in Santa Ana on Thursday as hundreds of supporters rallied outside the courthouse, had earlier agreed to be extradited to Thailand.

His attorney said Vo worries that Thai officials might return him to Vietnam, where he fears he would be put to death.

After two hours of argument, U.S. Magistrate Arthur Nakazato said he needed more time to decide whether Vo should be extradited. He set no date for his decision.

Outside the courtroom, about 300 flag-waving supporters touted him as a hero who should be released.

“He’s not a terrorist. He has sacrificed his life,” said Thanh Pham, 74, of Westminster.

Vo, a member of a Little Saigon-based organization dedicated to overthrowing Vietnam’s communist government, was arrested in October 2001 as he stepped off a jet at John Wayne Airport and has been held at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center on suspicion of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Prosecutors alleged that on June 19, 2001, Vo and another man placed a backpack filled with explosives outside the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok and tossed a brown box over the fence. The box contained 11 pounds of diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate -- the same type of mixture used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, officials said.

The packages were linked to a detonator that was supposed to be activated by a cellular phone. Prosecutors said the detonator malfunctioned and did not explode.

In a jailhouse interview with The Times, Vo said he planted the bombs to send a message to the Vietnamese communist regime but defused the boxes when he realized the U.S. Embassy was nearby.

Vo was given the option of pleading guilty and serving 10 years in prison or be extradited to Thailand. Vo, who has maintained his innocence, agreed to be extradited after hearing that Thai officials did not plan to file charges against him.

But he said when he realized Vietnam’s communist regime wanted him to face charges there, he feared Thai officials would hand him over to Vietnam, where he said he would most likely be put to death.

Vo’s brother, Vinh Tan Nguyen, 49, is accused in a similar attempted bombing and is being held in Manila.