A letter from the US embassy in the Philippines, dated 11 December 2003,
states that Bobby Fischer's US passport was issued at the US embassy in
Switzerland on 24 January 1997. That's more than 4 years after the US
authorities issued an arrest warrant on 15 December 1992. Curious that
in 1997 they apparently weren't interested in enforcing it, huh?

http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/list/p_52/52_0.htm

They didn't seek to have him extradited then. So why might they seek to
have him extradited now?

Note, BTW, that (AFAIK) there has been no official confirmation that US
authorities *are* seeking to have him extradited from Japan. What's been
stated is that the Japanese authorities may extradite him to the US - I
think what is really meant here is 'deport'. Obviously he needs to find
asylum in a third country.

Note that immigration officials at Narita airport in Japan say that he
was given landing permission on 15 April 2004, so a similar question
might be asked about the Japanese authorities too. Why did they detain
him this week owing to the cancellation of his US passport, when they
didn't do so in April?

--
banana "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 13:55:22 +0100, banana
wrote:

A letter from the US embassy in the Philippines, dated 11 December 2003,
states that Bobby Fischer's US passport was issued at the US embassy in
Switzerland on 24 January 1997. That's more than 4 years after the US
authorities issued an arrest warrant on 15 December 1992. Curious that
in 1997 they apparently weren't interested in enforcing it, huh?

These people are not the brightest, nor the swiftest. Often there is
cause to be grateful that this is true. - Things are changing fast
though, now that you have "Homeland Security".

Jürgen

In article , Jürgen R.
writes
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 13:55:22 +0100, banana
wrote:

A letter from the US embassy in the Philippines, dated 11 December 2003,
states that Bobby Fischer's US passport was issued at the US embassy in
Switzerland on 24 January 1997. That's more than 4 years after the US
authorities issued an arrest warrant on 15 December 1992. Curious that
in 1997 they apparently weren't interested in enforcing it, huh?

These people are not the brightest, nor the swiftest. Often there is
cause to be grateful that this is true. - Things are changing fast
though, now that you have "Homeland Security".

But what about the US authorities' non-attempt to extradite him from
Switzerland in 1997 though? I don't know whether they are going to try
to extradite him now. That's what people are saying but there has been
no official confirmation. More likely they will try to get the Japanese
authorities to deport him. Note that his landing rights granted earlier
this year have been rescinded retrospectively, which might mean that the
Japanese authorities are going to try to say that he's not really in
Japan, as if he'd just arrived in Japan as an illegal immigrant.

In England if the executive authorities decided not to act against
someone in 1997 and then decided to act against them in 2004, on exactly
the same evidence and for the same alleged crime, it would be called an
abuse of process.

--
banana "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)