Thatcher may face extradition bid

Argentina said yesterday it could seek the extradition of Baroness Thatcher over the 1982 sinking of the General Belgrano in the Falklands war, Reuter reports from Buenos Aires. 'We have to determine whether the sinking was a war crime or not,' President Carlos Menem said. 'If it was a war crime, much as I respect her, we would have to request Margaret Thatcher's extradition.'

The General Belgrano was sunk with the loss of 323 lives as it headed home and away from an exclusion zone declared around the islands by Britain. Mr Menem suggested that if the Nazi SS officer Erich Priebke could be extradited to Italy from Argentina, then Lady Thatcher should stand trial.