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  • West African island state Cape Verde was ordered Monday by a court from the regional ECOWAS bloc to free a businessman close to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and end extradition proceedings to the US. The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States demanded the release of 49-year-old Colombian Alex Saab, who is accused by Washington of running a fraud network allowing Venezuela's rulers to profit from food aid destined for the country. Charged in the US with money laundering in 2019, Saab was arrested when his plane made a stop in Cape Verde last June, and spent seven months in detention before moving to house arrest in January. A Cape Verde appeals court confirmed his extradition to the US on January 4. But in its Monday judgement, the ECOWAS court said there was no legal basis for his original arrest, as it came the day before the US issued an Interpol "red notice" for Saab on June 13. Judges ordered Cape Verde "to release (Saab) with immediate effect" and "discontinue the execution of all procedures and processes to extradite (him) to the USA," judges said. They also ruled that he should receive $200,000 in compensation. Saab's Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana, urged Cape Verde to comply with the judgement. But the country's authorities did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. The US claims that Saab and an associate, Alvaro Pulido -- also charged with money laundering -- moved $350 million out of Venezuela to foreign accounts under their control. They would face up to 20 years in jail if tried in America. Venezuela's opposition calls Saab a "frontman" for Maduro, while Caracas -- which has granted him Venezuelan nationality and the status of a diplomatic "special envoy" -- has attacked his detention in Cape Verde as "arbitrary". Maduro is seen in the US as a dictator while the opposition accuses him of being a usurper over his controversial re-election in 2018 in voting widely denounced as rigged. Washington has also hit 15 companies linked to Saab with sanctions. mln-siu/lal/tgb
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  • Court halts suspected money launderer's extradition from Cape Verde
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