U.S. lawmakers ask Cyprus to extradite Cypriot citizen accused of oil-for-food crimesThe Associated Press
Published: February 13, 2007
WASHINGTON: A committee of the House of Representatives asked the Cyprus
government on Tuesday for help in bringing to trial the indicted head of the
scandal-plagued U.N. program that sold Iraqi oil to help Iraqis endangered by
sanctions against President Saddam Hussein.
In a letter to Cypriot Ambassador Andreas Kakouris, Rep. Tom Lantos, the
Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the ranking
Republican, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, noted that a former ambassador had
promised his government would help locate Benon Sevan.
That ambassador, Euripides L. Evriviades, said a year ago that Cyprus was ready
to provide any further assistance, Lantos and Ros-Lehtinen wrote.
The Justice Department has requested Sevan's extradition through Interpol, the
international police organization, they wrote, which is "precisely the type of
assistance that is now needed to pursue justice in this case."
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