BRITAIN - Angers US re terrorist extradition/death penalty

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Current News : One Thread

Telegraph Britain angers America on terrorist extradition deal By Joe Murphy in London and David Wastell in Washington (Filed: 07/10/2001)

BRITAIN has angered the American government by saying it will extradite suspects accused of taking part in the September 11 atrocities only if the US waives its right to impose the death penalty.

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has warned federal officials that he will approve extraditions only if America signs a protocol pledging that the suspects, if found guilty, will be imprisoned rather than sentenced to die by gas or lethal injection.

The impasse has dismayed US investigators and will appall many Americans who believe that those who conspired or abetted in the murder of an estimated 7,000 people in New York and the Pentagon should forfeit their lives.

Mr Blunkett has no choice under British law because the European Convention on Human Rights prohibits extraditions in which capital punishment could be enforced. A Home Office official said that the extraditions would be blocked by endless legal challenges if the US refused to sign the protocol. The obstacle also applies to suspects who have been arrested in France, Germany and other European states.

The death penalty has been waived before to enable the extradition of alleged murderers from Britain and Europe but never in a case of such international urgency.

The Home Office official said: "This is the normal way of handling an extradition where the death penalty could be involved and the US has signed similar protocols in the past. It is not embarrassing to the British Government because the procedure is well established."

At least one suspect arrested in Britain is expected to face charges that may include conspiracy to murder 184 people in the attack on the Pentagon. Lotfi Raissi, 27, an Algerian pilot, is accused of training the terrorist who crashed that aircraft and is also thought to have been the lead instructor to three others. He is regarded as the most important suspect yet to be arrested in the international search for those involved in the worst crime committed on American soil.

"We are fully and deeply on the American side in the fight against terrorism," said a European official in Washington. "But we have a position of principle against the death penalty and there can be no exceptions to that."

John Ashcroft, the US attorney-general, said: "I believe the law, which is clear in relation to capital punishment in the United States, is a law that we ought to be able to enforce."

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ