Lula to have final say on Battisti’s extradition

Cesare Battisti, the former 1970s guerrilla who has managed to escape justice in his native Italy for the past 28 years, may finally have to go home and face the music. The Supreme Court in Brazil, where he lives as a fugitive, has ruled that he should be extradited to Italy - but that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should have the final say. Which puts Lula in an awkward position.

Earlier this year, Lula, himself a former leftist activist who has known the inside of a jail cell, granted Battisti political refugee status. Many Italian commentators claimed at the time that he had been persuaded to so by Carla Bruni. Whether that is the case or not - France's First Lady has always denied it - the Brazilian Supreme Court's decision forces Lula to reconsider his position.

Battisti was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism (PAC) group in the 1970s, Italy's so-called anni di plombo - years of lead - when hundreds of people died in political violence between the state and terrorists from both the extreme left and right.

In 1978-79 the group committed four assassinations, including those of a prison guard and a policeman, and pulled off robberies in and around Milan to fund their activities. One of the murders took place in front of the victim's 13-year-old son, who was also hit by gunfire and has been a paraplegic ever since.

Battisti was picked up by police in February 1979, after having been fingered by erstwhile comrades in the PAC who had collaborated