Madrid - Spain on Friday handed over to US authorities Syrian
arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar, whose extradition had been authorized by
the government a week earlier, police sources said.

The government confirmed the decision of the National Court, which
approved the extradition on the condition that the death penalty would
not be applied to al-Kassar, and that he would not be jailed for his
entire life.

Al-Kassar was detained a year ago at Madrid airport after flying in
from the southern Costa del Sol, where he has lived since 1980.

The United States suspects him of supplying weapons to organizations such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

The National Court said al-Kassar had been an international arms
trafficker since the early 1970s, supplying weapons to armed groups in
Nicaragua, Brazil, Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Iran and Iraq.

Al-Kassar had fought his extradition on the grounds that the US would not grant an Arab a fair trial. (dpa)