German to be Extradited from Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is to extradite a man wanted by German police on drug-dealing charges -- the first extradition between the two countries, the German Embassy said Tuesday. The man, Theodore Riedel, a German national, will be delivered on Wednesday to German authorities at Almaty's airport, according to Peter Kettner, first secretary of the German Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan's commercial capital.

Riedel was arrested in October in Almaty at the request of German authorities who had been searching for him through Interpol. Although there is no existing extradition agreement between the two countries, officials from the former Soviet republic said the decision had been taken on the basis of materials provided by the German Justice Ministry.