Mercenary to be sent to Colombia

Paramilitaries have sustained conflict in Colombia for decades

A Russian court has approved the extradition to Colombia of a former Israeli army officer.

In 2001, Yair Gal Klein was tried in his absence in a Colombian court for training guerrillas.

He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail for training paramilitary groups in "terrorist techniques".

He was detained by Russian police at Moscow airport last year following a tip off from Interpol, as he was about to board a flight to Israel.

Mr Klein is also accused of working as a mercenary for the Medellin drug cartel, a charge he denies.

A spokeswoman for Moscow city court said Mr Klein had 10 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.

If he did not do so, the extradition order would take effect.

Colombia's paramilitary militia groups were formed in the 1980s to protect landowners from attacks by left-wing guerrillas.

The militias are themselves accused of killing thousands of people.

More than 30,000 paramilitaries have handed in their weapons and surrendered to police in recent years, under a peace deal that offered reduced jail terms.