Extradition

LONDON -- The British government Wednesday lost another bid to deport a radical Muslim preacher to face trial in Jordan when a court of appeals rejected a request to reconsider an earlier court decision. After more than a decade of judgments and appeals in British and European courts, cleric Abu Qatada has won several legal battles against deportation. “This is not the end of the road, and the government remains determined to deport Abu Qatada,” said a Home Office spokesperson after the judgment.

An alleged Russian arms trafficker who was dubbed the "merchant of death" and inspired the Nicholas Cage thriller "Lord of War" was extradited to the United States on Tuesday to face terrorism charges, Thailand's government announced. Viktor Bout, a former Soviet air force officer who allegedly became one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was put on an American-bound plane about 1:30 p.m. Bangkok time, officials said. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters that Thai legislators supported an earlier court decision that Bout could be extradited as soon as the U.S. was ready to receive him. Bout, 43, was arrested in March 2008 in Bangkok as part of a joint U.S.-Thai sting operation in which agents posed as arms buyers for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The extradition of alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout from Thailand to the United States on Tuesday drew sharp protests from Russian officials, who insist the so-called merchant of death is an innocent businessman. Bout, a former Soviet air force officer who reportedly maintains strong ties to Russian intelligence, had been put aboard a chartered plane under tight security in Bangkok and arrived in suburban New York in manacles late Tuesday. He faces four federal terrorism charges, U.S. officials said.

Chilean ex-dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, facing extradition to Spain, said that he would fight the charges against him. "I will fight against this extradition with every ounce of my strength," Pinochet told the Sunday Telegraph. "I am innocent of the charges that I have been accused of, and in my capacity as a soldier of Chile and former president, I will fight to defend my honor and integrity and that of my country," he said.

President Ernesto Samper has raised the stakes in the nation's drug war by calling for an end to the constitutional ban on the extradition of cocaine traffickers and other criminals. The move, which could clear the way for jailed Cali cartel traffickers to be put on trial in the United States, must still be approved by Congress. Analysts say the issue is certain to be the subject of heated debate. U.S.

A state appeals court on Tuesday blocked the extradition of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith to Mississippi for a third trial for the 1963 slaying of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals said Beckwith could remain in Tennessee while he fights extradition to face a first-degree murder charge. But the court denied bail for the 70-year-old Signal Mountain man.

Lawyers for an escaped Irish Republican Army convict won a court ruling delaying his extradition to Northern Ireland, where he faces a life sentence for participating in the killing of a British soldier in 1980. Detectives were driving Angelo Fusco, 43, to Ireland's border with the British-linked province when a Dublin High Court justice ruled to block the extradition.

The Mexican government has authorized the extradition of accused methamphetamine kingpin Jesus Amezcua to California to face federal indictments, an official confirmed. Mexico seldom extradites its citizens to the United States. Amezcua and two of his brothers were arrested in June, but all Mexican charges against them have been dismissed. Authorities allege that they headed the world's biggest methamphetamine-trafficking operation.

Haiti's interim government plans to seek the extradition of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on charges of corruption and rights abuses, Justice Minister Bernard Gousse said. Aristide, who fled Feb. 29 as rebels were reaching the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the capital, has temporary asylum in Jamaica. Officials there have said he will have permanent asylum in South Africa after that country's elections in two weeks.

An armored car driver accused of killing his partner and stealing $300,000 waived extradition Monday and will be returned to California where he faces a possible death penalty. Thomas Wheelock, shackled and unshaven, appeared before a Utah judge just long enough to sign the extradition papers. Wheelock, 20, of San Ramon, is charged with robbing $300,000 from an armored car he was hired to guard, killing his partner in the process.