Cali drug cartel leader

is extradited to U.S.

BOGOTA - Drug kingpin Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, wearing handcuffs and a bulletproof vest, flew late Friday aboard U.S. government plane for trial in the United States, becoming the most powerful Colombian trafficker to ever be extradited to the United States.

A phalanx of helmeted police armed with assault rifles escorted the leader of the once-feared Cali drug cartel to the plane at a military airfield on the edge of Bogota. It took off into the night sky minutes later. Top American and Colombian authorities hailed the extradition.

''Every day, judicial cooperation between our two countries is becoming more effective and more visible,'' Col. Oscar Naranjo, chief of Colombia's Judicial Police, told The Associated Press.

''This means that the criminals will not find any sanctuary to evade justice.''

Soldiers and police brandishing rifles guarded a convoy that sped the kingpin from La Picota prison to the airfield.

ROMANIA

Protesters rally over

alleged election fraud

BUCHAREST - Dozens of former fighters in the 1989 uprising that toppled Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu rallied Friday in a Bucharest square to demand that authorities investigate alleged fraud in the country's general election.

The Constitutional Court deliberated Friday on requests from three political parties to cancel the elections, but analysts expected the court to reject the fraud claims as Romanian law requires a high burden of proof and widespread, proven fraud before elections can be annulled.

ITALY

Prime minister's trial

for bribery almost over

ROME - Italy's first criminal trial of a sitting prime minister drew toward a close on Friday, with defense lawyers making their final arguments aimed at trying to prevent Silvio Berlusconi from becoming the first convicted politician to hold the nation's top office.

The flamboyant Italian leader's lawyers summed up their case by arguing that convicting Berlusconi of bribing judges in the 1980s would do lasting harm to the country's reputation.

The verdict, defense lawyer Gaetano Pecorella said, ''could change the history of this country and leave a mark on Italy's image.''