The German authorities have asked for the extradition of the controversial British historian, David Irving.

Mr Irving, 62, is currently suing an academic in the British courts who has accused him of denying the Holocaust.

The extradition request dates back to 1996, when Mr Irving gave a talk in Germany at the invitation of Gunther Deckert, the leader of the far-right German People's Party (NPD).

He is accused of racial incitement for denying the Holocaust took place, which under German law is a criminal offence.

The court date for his trial was set in Germany in 1997, but was put off when Mr Irving failed to appear.

Nazi historian

Mr Irving is the author of the books Hitler's War and Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich.

He is suing Professor Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books for libel over the "evil" claim in her book, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, that he was a "Holocaust denier".

Mr Irving alleges they are part of "an organised international endeavour" to destroy his career and said the "waves of hatred" they had generated had robbed him of financial security for the future.

Prof Lipstadt, holder of the Dorot Chair in Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and the publishers deny libel and plead justification.