Madam, - US ambassador Thomas Foley's praise for the principle of legal extradition (as opposed to forced rendition) is a welcome change of policy by his government.
Having finally managed to file the correct papers in the correct order without the gross typographical errors previously evident, the extradition of a US citizen from Ireland was achieved by the US authorities.
No big deal. Ignoring the patronising tone of the ambassador's welcome for this outcome, are we now to presume that the US authorities will reciprocate and lift their blockade on the extradition of alleged terrorists from the USA to face trial in their home countries? Or is that too big a deal for his government?
Extradition requests from Venezuela, Panama, Barbados, Cuba and many others lie unprocessed in the USA without explanation, some for decades.
The subjects of these requests enjoy the protection of the US government and their victims are denied justice by the intransigence of the US authorities. One of those subjects admitted in a New York Times article to masterminding the bombing of a civilian airliner with the loss of all 73 people on board.
His accomplice was jailed but received a presidential pardon.
Is it too much to expect that the US policy of protecting some of the most notorious criminals on the planet will be reversed or is extradition, like so much else, welcomed by US ambassadors only when it works in favour of the USA? -
SIMON McGUINNESS, St Joseph's Cottages, Ashtown, Dublin 7.