Sorry. Please delete.

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. law designed to catch terrorists used instead against British businessmen
By JANE WARDELL AP Business Writer

(AP) - LONDON-When Britain signed a treaty with the U.S. in 2003 that drastically reduced the evidence required from U.S. officials seeking to extradite suspected felons, the British government said it was all about speeding up the process of bringing terrorists to justice.

What few expected to see was U.S. authorities using the law to pursue senior executives - whose alleged offenses either took place mostly in Britain or were not even crimes here - alongside of the likes of Abu Hamza al-Masri, the hook-handed preacher wanted on terrorism charges.

Yet that is what has happened to three NatWest bankers - David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Derby - who are facing charges in an 11 million pound (US$19.4 million; euro16.17 million) fraud case arising from the Enron Corp. collapse, and to Ian Norris, the former chief executive of investment firm Morgan Crucible, who faces price-fixing charges.

Legal experts have cried foul because the treaty is not reciprocal: The U.S. Senate has not yet ratified the treaty, meaning that British officials still must meet a higher burden of evidence when seeking to have suspected criminals brought here for justice.

While the United States has signed the treaty, it has not been considered by the Senate as organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union lobby against it.
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http://news.corporate.findlaw.com/ap/p/56/07-15-2005/e1150043d1759562.html