Egypt and Yemen fail to sign criminal extradition agreement

Egypt and Yemen failed to reach an agreement in the field of judicial cooperation which includes the extradition of criminals who are sentenced by each other's courts.

The Egyptian - Yemeni Higher Committee held a meeting yesterday which had been headed by Egyptian Premier Dr. Kamal Ganzouri and his Yemeni counterpart Farag Bin Ghanem. During the meeting 33 agreements and protocols were signed in the fields of economic, trade, cultural, agricultural, judicial, and transportation cooperation.

The one agreement that was not signed dealt with judicial cooperation, due to differences over the articles of the agreement.

An Egyptian judicial official stated that the negotiations will continue in order to put the final touches on that agreement which includes extradition of criminals who are sentenced by each country's courts.

Egypt had requested that Yemen extradite some Egyptian terrorists. Egyptian security reports said that those terrorists are in Yemen, while Yemen denies their presence on its territories. On the other hand, Yemen had requested that Egypt extradite Yemeni opposition members residing in Cairo who they accused of dissenting and igniting the civil war in 1994.