The Bolivian President, Col. Hugo Banzer, in a personal letter to President Pompidou has indirectly turned down France’s request for the extradition of Klaus Barbie. Banzer, in a letter received here yesterday by the Elysee Palace, said that “after an examination of the juridical elements available, I’d consider the problem as settled.”
Banzer was replying to a personal appeal from Pompidou to try and have Barbie, believed to be residing in Bolivia under the identity of Klaus Altmann, extradited immediately. Barbie was sentenced to death in absentia by a French court after the war for having murdered French resistance leader Jean Moulin as well as countless other resistance fighters and local Jews. Barbie was at the time serving as gestapo commander in Lyons.
The letter from Banzer is interpreted by French official circles as meaning that the Bolivian government has no intention of submitting the French extradition request to Bolivia’s Supreme Court. These circles interpret Banzer’s letter as a refusal by Bolivia’s executive to refrain in the matter in favor of the judicial authorities. It is also believed here that France, after having tried to obtain Barbie’s extradition at “the highest possible level” will not continue to press matters with the same energy. Since 1963 France has been pursuing a policy of rapprochement with South America.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
