EXTRADITION OF JAILED DRUGLORDS TO U.S. BANNED BY TOP COURT

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- A top court voted Thursday to effectively ban
sending Colombia's jailed drug kingpins--including its billionaire Cali
cocaine
merchants--to stand trial in the United States.

The ruling by Colombia's Constitutional Court upheld a law passed by
Congress in 1997 when it lifted a 6-year-old ban on extradition but
said it could not be applied to crimes committed before the new law
took effect in December.

The court's president, Vladimiro Naranjo, conceded that the 5-4 ruling
was likely to "do damage" to Colombia, by adding to its drug-tainted
image abroad. And even some political allies of President Andres
Pastrana, who took office in August, said it was sure to put new
strains on ties between Washington and Bogota.

Pastrana campaigned on a pledge to extradite any jailed druglords
wanted for trial in a foreign court. "If there are criminals who have
committed crimes outside of Colombia, and other countries want them,
we're going to extradite them," he said before his election.

Naranjo said the court ruling was final and not subject to appeal.
Government officials immediately endorsed it despite the pressures
that it might bring from Washington.

"The decision of the judicial branch and Congress cannot be subject to
pressures," said Justice Minister Parmenio Cuellar.

"We can't please the United States in everything we do," added Senate
President Fabio Valencia, a close Pastrana ally. "We can't legislate
thinking of the United States but of Colombia," he said.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry