Reuters U.S. Death Penalty Stops Spain Extraditing Suspects MADRID (Reuters) -- Spain cannot extradite suspected Islamic
extremists to the United States while the death penalty is in force
there, judicial sources said on Thursday. Eight suspected members of a radical Spanish Islamic group were
detained in Spain last week, accused of involvement in the September
11 hijacked aircraft attacks on the United States. High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon said in a committal order that
the men, mostly Spanish citizens of Arab origin, had links to Osama
bin Laden's al Qaeda group. The United States accuses bin Laden of masterminding the attacks
on New York and Washington that killed thousands. The arrested men have denied the charges, judicial sources
said. At an informal meeting in Madrid on Wednesday involving a
representative of the U.S. ambassador, two officials from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and two Spanish justice officials,
the U.S. was told that extradition was not possible, the sources
said. ``The U.S. officials came away from the meeting with the clear
message that under Spanish law Spain could not extradite suspects to
a country which enforces the death penalty,'' they said. The death penalty was abolished in Spain with the introduction of
the constitution in 1978 three years after the death of dictator
General Francisco Franco. A total of 85 people were executed in the U.S. last year and more
than 60 have been executed so far this year, according to the Death
Penalty Information Center. Copyright © 2001. Reuters. All rights reserved. saved from url:
November 22, 2001
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