RULING SAVES CARTEL FROM U.S. TRIALS

Bogota - Colombia's highest court ruled yesterday that a law reinstating
extradition cannot be applied retroactively, saving the Cali drug cartel's
jailed leaders from trial in the United States.

The Constitutional Court, in a 5-to-4 - decision, said that only Colombian
citizens indicted for crimes committed abroad after the law took effect in
December 1997, can be extradited.

The United States has requested the extradition of four jailed Cali cartel
principals, including brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, who
were captured in 1995 and later convicted in Colombia of drug trafficking
and other crimes.

Although the country signed a 1979 extradition treaty with the United
States, Colombian leaders enacted legislation that nullified the pact. Under
intense U.S. pressure, Colombia's congress reinstated extradition last year.

Checked-by: Don Beck