Bolivia extradites Argentine 'Dirty War' suspect

LA PAZ: Bolivia on Sunday extradited an ex-military officer wanted for human rights violations to his native Argentina, officials said one day after announcing his arrest.

Luis Enrique Baraldini, linked to crimes committed during his country's "Dirty War" in the 1970s and 1980s, "was delivered to the Argentine authorities in Bermejo," a border city between the two countries, Bolivia's Interior Minister Wilfredo Chavez told AFP by telephone.

He declined to provide further details, citing security concerns.

Baraldini was arrested in Bolivia's economic capital of Santa Cruz, where he allegedly lived under the false name Marco Antonio Aponte for half a dozen years. Argentina had offered a reward of some $23,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Argentina's Ministry of Justice and Human Rights linked him to rights violations committed under former general Guillermo Suarez Mason, accused of ordering the killing of thousands of alleged dissidents during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

An estimated 30,000 people died in Argentina's "Dirty War," the dictatorship's brutal campaign against mostly leftist dissidents, according to rights groups.

Those targeted in the campaign are popularly known as the "disappeared" because many were taken to detention centers where they were tortured and executed without their families knowing their exact whereabouts.

In recent years, Argentina and other Latin American countries have put several former military officers and senior officials on trial for crimes committed during similar crackdowns in the 1970s and 1980s.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011