France may delay extradition of man accused of killing abortionist

French opposition to the US death penalty is likely to complicate extradition proceedings involving the anti-abortion activist, Mr James C. Kopp, arrested in Brittany for allegedly murdering a US doctor.

Mr Kopp is also a suspect in three other non-fatal shootings in Canada and one in the US.

He was arrested in Dinan following a two-year hunt that had seen him narrowly avoid apprehension in Ireland where he spent nearly a year living in hostels, according to the FBI. They say he led a "somewhat lonely life" in Ireland, working in clerical jobs and moving from hostel to hostel.

He is charged with the 1998 killing of Dr Barnett Slepian, an abortion provider from Buffalo, New York, who was killed by a shot through his kitchen window as he heated soup with his family around him.

US authorities said yesterday they were proceeding with the extradition request but acknowledged complications involving the death penalty. The director of the FBI, Mr Louis Freeh, admitted on Thursday: "There are a lot of restrictions in the treaty with respect to the penalty. There are diplomatic issues that have to be resolved".

Tne prosecuting authorities may have to assure the French they will not seek the death penalty, but they expressed confidence the extradition would proceed.

Mr Kopp was arrested by French police when he went to the post office to pick up a small parcel of $300 allegedly sent by two fellow anti-abortion militants, Ms Loretta Claire Marra (37), and Mr Dennis "John" Malvasi (51), from Brooklyn, who were arrested in the US and face charges of helping a fugitive.

Mr Malvasi served seven years for bombing an abortion clinic while Ms Marra was arrested three times with Mr Kopp at violent protests outside clinics.

Police say a covert search of the couple's apartment turned up correspondence and e-mails from Mr Kopp.

Mr Kopp, who has been on the FBI's most-wanted list since 1999, has a record of arrests going back to 1988 when he and 100 fellow demonstrators were arrested together in Atlanta, Georgia. Refusing to give their names to the police, the group turned the jail into a hothouse of prayer and preaching which lasted for several days.

Among the products of that jail term was a bomb-making pamphlet entitled The Manual of the Army of God. The first in the list of acknowledgments is one "Atomic Dog", Mr Kopp's nom de guerre.

Its introduction makes its purpose clear: "This is a manual for those who have come to understand that the battle against abortion is a battle not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and all the evil he can muster among flesh and blood to fight at his side." After the Atlanta jailing Mr Kopp, a Californian marine biologist who from the mid-1980s had become increasingly obsessed with religion, joined the extremist Operation Rescue group under Mr Randall Terry, who used him as a liaison with the Catholic wing of the movement.

Police say the testimony of an early-morning jogger of a suspicious car near the Slepian home in the days before the killing led them to Mr Kopp. A rifle with a sighting scope was also found buried in the woods near his home. It has been linked to the killing.

Since 1993 there have been seven murders of doctors and abortion clinic workers. Last Wednesday the Federal Appeals Court in California ruled that the free speech provisions of the Constitution extended to the right to publish a website listing the names and addresses of such workers.