French court refuses to extradite Italian former militants

PARIS (AP) — France’s top court has ruled against extraditing 10 former far-left Italian militants who were convicted of attacks carried out in the 1970s and 1980s. The two women and eight men fled Italy after their convictions and before they could be sent to prison. Now ranging in age from 62 to 79, they have lived freely in France for decades. The crimes of which they were convicted include the killing of a Carabinieri paramilitary general and the kidnapping of a judge, both in 1980. Resistance by French authorities to incarcerating the Italians has long been a thorny issue between Paris and Rome.