LONDON - Britain welcomed the approval by the US Senate Saturday of a fast-track extradition treaty used to send three bankers to Texas on fraud charges related to the collapsed energy giant Enron. Home Secretary John Reid said he was “delighted” senators had backed the controversial treaty after months of diplomatic pressure from London in the wake of the so-called “NatWest Three” case. “The treaty is an important measure in our fight against serious international crime,” he added in a statement.Using the treaty, which was originally intended for security suspects and became law in Britain in 2002, the bankers — Gary Mulgrew, David Bermingham and Giles Darby — were flown to Texas in July to stand trial. The trio attempted to overturn the order in the British courts amid widespread criticism that the United States had not ratified the agreement, which lowers the threshold of prima facie proof for suspects to be extradited.
While the treaty was only ratified by Britain, the US authorities demanded a higher burden that there was a case to answer before agreeing to extradite its citizens to Britain.