MI5 renegade to fight extradition

DAVID SHAYLER, the renegade former MI5 officer arrested in France in August, appeared before magistrates yesterday and refused to consent to his extradition to Britain.

Mr Shayler, 32, is wanted on two charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act by leaking information to the press - including a claim that British agents were involved in a failed plot to assassinate the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi - and the magistrates at the Cour d'Accusations in Paris set a date of 21 October for the full extradition hearing.

An attempt by Mr Shayler's lawyers to appeal for bail could not be heard because of a legal technicality. The court will consider the issue a week today but it is thought unlikely that the request will be granted.

After the hearing, one of Mr Shayler's legal representatives, Maitre William Bourdon, said he believed his client had "a quite reasonable chance" of winning his case. Experts in French extradition law believe it could be difficult for the French government to win approval for his return to Britain. They say a suspect cannot be extradited for an offence that does not also exist in France.