The World : Nazi’s Extradition Sought

Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who has been banned from visiting the United States because of his service in the German army in the Balkans during World War II, asked Syria to extradite convicted Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, according to the Austrian Press Agency. It said Waldheim met with President Hafez Assad in Damascus and told reporters later that he raised “the question of the extradition request” and that further talks will be held on the issue. The Austrian-born Brunner was convicted in absentia in France in 1954 of taking part in the deportation to death camps of more than 120,000 Jews. Waldheim served as a lieutenant in the intelligence unit of a command accused of atrocities during the war but has denied any personal wrongdoing.