Peers urge government to block NatWest Three extradition

Britain's House of Lords last night called for the government to block the extradition of British citizens to the US until it ratifies a new treaty.

A parliamentary row has blown up over the case of the "NatWest Three", former bankers who face extradition to the US tomorrow on fraud charges.

Peers from all parties united in the bid to remove from the US the right to extradite Britons under the 2003 Extradition Act until the Senate ratifies the treaty.

Tory spokesman Lord Kingsland, backed by the Liberal Democrats, moved an amendment to the Police and Justice Bill to put this exclusion into law.

The Senate's failure to ratify the treaty has sparked outrage in Britain because it meant British citizens could be extradited to the US without evidence being produced that there was a case to answer, even though there was no equivalent arrangement for the extradition of US nationals to Britain.

Lord Kingsland said he was concerned with the issues of ratification and reciprocity.

"But we have been acting as if the US had ratified that treaty, to the astonishment of a number of Americans. We have been acting on the basis of a treaty that as yet forms no part of international law."

The three former NatWest bankers - who stand accused of fraud charges in connection to the collapse of Enron - are expected to be handed over to US marshals at Gatwick airport and flown on a 9.30am flight to Houston on Thursday.

The NatWest Three - Gary Mulgrew, David Bermingham and Giles Darby - will be handcuffed and fingerprinted upon arrival and, like the host of high-profile executives who have faced trial on white collar fraud cases before them, be forced to wait on a judge's decision on whether or not they may return home to await trial or be sent to prison.

US legal experts said foreign nationals were not afforded any special privileges when judges deliberated whether or not to grant bail. The fact that the three resisted extradition could make them, in the eyes of the judge, a flight risk. Ultimately, the bail decision could hinge on whether prosecutors will agree to strike a deal with the defendants.

Possibilities include allowing the three former bankers to be granted bail but remain within the US, be allowed to travel back to the UK to prepare for their defence, or be incarcerated in a low-security prison.

Mark Spragg, their solicitor, yesterday said they were hearing from US lawyers that possible bail conditions were becoming increasingly onerous, in terms of the financial security that would have to be provided.

While the British legal and business communities have rallied to the defence of the three UK nationals, the former bankers are not likely to get a sympathetic greeting in Houston, the city that has played host to a string of convictions against those who worked for and with Enron, which collapsed in 2001.

The successful extradition of the three was seen as a long shot by US law enforcement officials, who do not have a record of seeking the extradition of UK citizens on white collar crime cases.

The massive fraud at the energy trader wiped out thousands of shareholders and Enron employees, who saw retirement savings destroyed. - (Financial Times Service and PA)