Joran van der Sloot, the Dutchman jailed in Peru for murder and the main suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance, is to be extradited to the US to face charges of blackmailing Holloway’s family, according to news agency reports.

Beth Holloway has issued a statement welcoming the news that Peru is ‘temporarily’ sending Van der Sloot to the US. Natalee disappeared on Aruba in 2005 and her body has never been found. She was last seen in a bar on the island with Van der Sloot who lived there.

The US wants to prosecute Van der Sloot for asking the Holloway family for $250,000 for information about where the girl’s body could be found. He later admitted that his promises were false and could face 25 years in a US jail.

Van der Sloot is currently serving 28 years in a Peruvian jail for the murder of 21-year-old student Stephay Flores, five years after Holloway’s disappearance.

A treaty between Peru and the US does make it possible for a ‘temporary’ extradition procedure to take place for a court hearing. Van der Sloot’s lawyer told news agency AP he plans to fight the extradition proceedings.

‘It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee,’ Beth Holloway said in the statement.