Natalee Holloway case suspect Joran van der Sloot wants to be transferred to the US, lawyer says

Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, wants to be temporarily transferred to the United States, his attorney Maximo Altez said Tuesday.

Van der Sloot is set to be extradited from Peru to the United States to face extortion and fraud charges related to an alleged plot to extort Holloway's family after her disappearance, Peruvian officials have said.

Altez said he received a letter from van der Sloot last week asking the attorney not to appeal his transfer to the United States. "I want to go to the US," van der Sloot wrote, Altez told CNN en Español on Tuesday.

Van der Sloot was involved in a fight inside his prison ward during visiting hours on Saturday and suffered a cut to his fingers and some bruising, Altez said. He was placed in the prison's medical section, Altez said.

"It wasn't a direct assault against him, it was a fight among some inmates and my client got involved when he tried to defend his friend, who was injured on the leg. As a consequence (Joran) got injured in his hand," Altez told CNN en Español.

The attorney had earlier said his client had been "severely" beaten, ABC News reported.

Van der Sloot, a Dutch national, was convicted in 2012 of murdering Stephany Flores, 21, in his Lima hotel room and sentenced to 28 years in prison.