US says will consider fresh plea for Anderson's extradition

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jun 12 (PTI) Days after ruling out any 'new
inquiries' against Union Carbide in the wake of the Bhopal
court verdict, the US Saturday said it is prepared to give
"fair consideration" to any fresh request from India for
extradition of the company's former chief Warren Anderson over
the 1984 gas disaster.
"We have an extradition treaty with India. And if India
makes an extradition request to us, we will give it fair
consideration," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said.
If the government of India makes such a request, the US
will "carefully evaluate" it, he told reporters in response to
a question.
Crowley, however, said he was not in a position to verify
whether the US had already received such requests or whether
it had responded to them, arguing that all such issues were
confidential.
A day after the Bhopal court convicted and sentenced to
two years former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra
and six others on Monday, the US had ruled out any 'new
inquiries' against the company and also hoped that the verdict
would bring "closure" to the families of the gas leak victims.
On that day, responding to a specific question on whether
there was a request by India for Anderson's extradition,
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert
Blake had said: "As a matter of policy, we never discuss
extradition, so I cannot comment on that."
Crowley Saturday also noted that it was hard to draw a
comparison between the Bhopal gas tragedy that left over
15,000 dead and the BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico now,
saying the American companies were "very mindful and
respectful" of the rules of the land when they operated
overseas. (More) PTI LKJ
KAB


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