Extradition suspended for US hippy leader

Einhorn was not badly hurt in his suicide bid

The extradition from France of a fugitive American has been suspended, only hours after he failed to prevent it in his final appeal under French law.

Earlier in the day, France's highest administrative court had ruled that Ira Einhorn, a former hippy leader and anti-war activist, should be returned to the United States to face trial for murder.

But France had agreed to a one-week postponement of the extradition at the request of the European Court of Human Rights, the French Justice Ministry said.

Einhorn is reported to have attempted suicide after hearing that his appeal in the French court had failed.

There are no serious problems

Einhorn's lawyer after his suicide attempt

He tried to cut his own throat and slit his wrists, his lawyer said, but suffered no major injury.

Einhorn fled from Philadelphia in 1981 while awaiting trial for the murder of Holly Maddux, and vanished for more than 15 years.

In 1997 he was discovered living under an assumed name in south-west France, sparking a legal battle to return him to the US.

Defence lawyers said the European court had told the French Government that it was "advisable" to postpone the extradition so it could look into the case, but no other details have been given.

House surrounded

Shortly after Einhorn's appeal failed, gendarmes and riot police surrounded his home in south-west France, an ivy-covered converted windmill where he is under house arrest.

The US fugitive has been under house arrest

Lawyer Dominique Delthil said Einhorn had tried to take his own life but was out of danger.

"There are no serious problems," she told the Associated Press news agency.

A US court tried him in absentia in 1993, finding him guilty of the murder of Maddux and giving him a life sentence.

Einhorn - a leading pacifist in the 1960s - was still in hiding at the time of the trial.

Maddux's body was found hidden in Einhorn's Philadelphia flat in 1979, where it had lain undiscovered for 18 months.

In 1999, he was also ordered to pay the dead woman's family $907m in damages for her wrongful death.

Einhorn claims he fled the US because he would not have received a fair hearing, as he had organised demonstrations against the Vietnam war.

Death penalty

Thursday's court decision followed an appeal Einhorn launched last year after Prime Minister Lionel Jospin signed an extradition order.

Mr Jospin did so after receiving guarantees that Einhorn would get a fresh trial in the US and would not face the death penalty.

French law forbids the extradition of suspects who could face capital punishment.

In Einhorn's appeal against Mr Jospin's decision, his lawyers argued that the US authorities had deceived Mr Jospin.

But the Council of State rejected the appeal on Thursday.