'Dirty War' extradition approved

The accused have the right to appeal against extradition

A Uruguayan judge has approved the extradition to Argentina of six former military and police officers to face trial on human rights charges.

The men are accused of abducting for torture 11 Uruguayan dissidents in Argentina in the 1970s.

The kidnappings were part of South America's so-called Dirty War, in which military governments collaborated to persecute their opponents.

The six men, all currently in custody in Uruguay, deny the charges.

They have the right to appeal against the extradition order.

The judge, Juan Carlos Fernandez Lecchini, said the men would be extradited on the condition that they could not be condemned to serve life in prison, which is banned in Uruguay.

The abductions of which they are accused include the high-profile case of Maria Claudia Garcia, who was the daughter-in law of a famous Argentine poet, Juan Gelman.

She was seven months pregnant when she was abducted in Buenos Aires in 1976. She is presumed to have been killed once she gave birth to a daughter.

The military authorities in Uruguay gave the baby to a local couple. She was reunited with her biological family after being located by Mr Gelman nearly 25 years later.

The six accused are Jose Ricardo Arab Fernandez, Jose Nino Gavazzo Pereira, Ricardo Jose Medina Blanco, Ernesto Avelino Rama Pereira, Jorge Alberto Silveira Quesada, and Gilberto Valentin Vazquez Bisio.