THE Jamaican Government yesterday insisted that the three-and-a-half-months which has elapsed since the United States made an extradition request for West Kingston strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke to answer charges in that country was the fault of the US authorities.

The US State Department in August sent a 10-page indictment in which it accused Coke of illicit trafficking of arms and drugs as well as conspiracy, and requested that he be extradited to face charges there. The US also identified nine co-conspirators who had pinpointed Coke as a major arms and drug runner.

But according to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who was answering questions posed by Opposition member of parliament Dr Peter Phillips on the issue at Gordon House in Kingston yesterday, the US authorities had not followed proper procedure in issuing the request and were in violation of Jamaican domestic laws.

"Most requests that have been received depend for their process on the provisions of the Extradition Treaty with the particular country and on the Extradition Act," Golding told Parliamentarians. "This particular request is somewhat different in that it also relies for its validity on the provisions of the Mutual Assistance Criminal Matters Act. The Government of Jamaica has raised with the US authorities issues regarding its compliance with that Act."

The prime minister, however, refused to state the breach, a position which infuriated Opposition MPs who argued that the explanation did not stand to reason and pressed for more details. Phillips, who led the charge, said the Government was taking an inordinately "longer than the average period of time" to comply in this particular instance.

Golding further brushed aside suggestions that Justice Minister and Attorney General Senator Dorothy Lightbourne has been reluctant to deal with the request.

"Extradition requests must be executed in accordance with the internal laws of the requested state (Jamaica)," the prime minister insisted. "We have raised with the US authorities our concern that the request did not comply with the internal laws of the requested state and therefore it is not a matter of whether the minister is inclined to authorise the extradition, it is a question that the minister would be authorising something she knows is in violation of the law."

He said Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Kenneth Baugh is now involved in discussions with the authorities to resolve the matter and both parties have agreed not to publicly air those contemplations while the talks are ongoing. Golding, however, said he had indicated to the US authorities his obligations in as far as providing answers to Parliament was concerned but on the grounds that he would not go into the specifics, which were more or less a matter for the Courts.

Yesterday, the Government's reticence interrupted the fragile calm in the chambers. An attempt by House Speaker Delroy Chuck to quell the near pandemonium was more or less unsuccessful.

Said Chuck: "Dr Phillips, are we going to try this matter in here?" to which Phillips retorted "I'm not going to try it, but I think you are protesting too much".

Phillips, undaunted, went on to question whether it had been appropriate for members of the Cabinet to meet with Coke and whether the Government had more to gain by retaining him. Golding, who resorted to the protection offered by the Standing Orders of the House to not reply to such questions, quelled Phillips' relentless prodding by making a veiled reference to his (Phillips') attendance at the funeral of a figure linked to the infamous Black Roses Crew in 2001.

In the meantime, the prime minister said a total 31 persons have been extradited from Jamaica between September 2007 when his party took office and now. Of this number, 19 persons were extradited to face drug offence charges, nine for murder, three for fraud and one for assault.

Between August 2009 and present, three extradition requests including Coke's have been received. In one case the authority to proceed has been issued while the other two cases are being considered by the justice minister.

And the Government yesterday continued to deny that its failure to extradite Coke has caused a stand-off between Washington and itself and was the reason a US ambassador has not been appointed to the country since the departure of former Ambassador Brenda La Grange Johnson.

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