US has not requested Benon Sevan extradition from Cyprus

Cyprus Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis has said that the United States has not requested the extradition of former head of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program for Iraq, Benon Sevan, a Cypriot of Armenian origin, against whom a US federal court in New York filed bribery and conspiracy charges.Asked whether the US has asked the government of Cyprus for Sevan’s extradition, Pashiardes said “as far as I know, it hasn’t”, and noted that “there is no agreement for extradition of Cypriot citizens between Cyprus and the US”.

Replying to questions, he said that Cyprus has made such agreements with other states but there is no such agreement with the US.

He also said that Sevan is presently in Cyprus.