Colombian extraditions seen aiding US trade deal
(Adds extradited suspect in New York, other details)
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - Colombia's decision to extradite 14 former paramilitary leaders to the United States to face drug-trafficking and other charges was praised on Wednesday by a leading congressional Democrat, who said it could improve the outlook for a troubled free-trade deal.
"I think it's a very positive development," U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.
Asked by Reuters whether this could help prospects for House passage of a U.S. free-trade agreement with Colombia that Democrats have put on hold, Hoyer responded, "I think it is helpful." But he added that there has been no movement yet in scheduling a vote on the House floor.
Another Democrat doubted the extraditions would be enough to propel the trade deal to a vote by the full House before the November congressional and presidential election.
Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, who chairs a House panel that oversees international trade, told Reuters that Colombia had not done enough to protect worker rights and stop violence against union organizers.
"The picture today is as it was a couple months ago and as it was a year ago," Levin told Reuters.
In New York, one of the extradited suspects on Wednesday was ordered held without bail to face charges including money laundering and attempting to smuggle tons of cocaine worth millions of dollars into the United States.
Prosecutors say Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano, 47, was a paramilitary chief who once dominated the Medellin underworld as leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
U.S. authorities say Murillo was in charge of all of its cocaine transportation. He was considered one of the most feared men in Colombia for his possible involvement in killings of peasants suspected of cooperating with Marxist guerrillas.
The other 13 suspects were due to appear in U.S. federal courts in Florida, Texas and Washington this week. HOUSE HALTS TRADE PACT
The White House said on Tuesday that it hoped the extraditions would persuade congressional Democrats to support the trade pact. "The most important thing the United States Congress can do for the safety and prosperity and security of our hemisphere ... is to pass the Colombia free trade agreement," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
On April 10 House Democrats won an indefinite delay of congressional consideration of the free-trade agreement negotiated by the Bush administration with Colombia.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said that dealing with the ailing U.S. economy was a higher priority. She has been a long-standing critic of Colombian violence against labor unions and lagging environmental protections.
U.S. labor unions, an important constituency for Democrats, especially in this election year, are strongly opposed to the trade deal with Colombia, saying it has not done enough to stop violence against trade unionists there.
But Bogota's extradition of the 14 suspects on Tuesday prompted Hoyer, the second-ranking lawmaker in the House, to praise the government of U.S. ally President Alvaro Uribe.
"I think that the Uribe government continues to pursue trying to enforce a more stable environment and go after those whether they're paramilitaries or FARC who are committing crimes," Hoyer said.
The warring groups have been accused in Colombia of killing thousands during a four-decade conflict between rebels and Colombia's government.
(Additional reporting by Christine Kearney in New York and Randall Mikkelsen in Washington; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
