France to extradite ex-terrorist

Tokyo, July 8 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed on Tuesday that France will extradite to Italy a former member of the Red Brigades (BR) terrorist group who was arrested in a Paris suburb last August. Marina Petrella, 54, was convicted by an Italian court in 1992 of the 1981 murder of a police officer and was wanted for other crimes, including kidnapping and armed robbery. She had been living in France without any problems for 15 years but in October 2006 Italy issued an extradition request for Petrella and 11 other former far-left militants living in France. Speaking on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised countries, Sarkozy said ''we will abide by the European accords we have signed and the decisions made by the French judiciary''. However, Sarkozy said he has discussed... [read full story]