WORLD IN BRIEF : COLOMBIA : Extradition Rules Altered by Court

Colombia Supreme Court judges said that President Virgilio Barco Vargas cannot order the extradition of suspected drug traffickers to the United States under an emergency order but that Colombia can extradite under a 101-year-old treaty. After a wave of assassinations, Barco established “administrative” extraditions Aug. 18 that permitted the Justice Ministry to send alleged drug kingpins to the United States without first consulting the Supreme Court. High court Judge Jaime Sanin, in comments to reporters, said that extradition by direct order of the president is invalid because a 1979 U.S.-Colombian extradition treaty remains in place.