'Italy extradited wrong man from Sudan'

Eritreans in Sudan yesterday said that a man extradited to Italy and accused of being a kingpin in an international people-smuggling ring was actually one of their friends and police had arrested the wrong man.

Italian and British officials said on Wednesday they had worked together to secure the arrest of Medhane Yehdego Mered, nicknamed "the General", in Sudan and hailed his extradition as a rare victory in the struggle against human trafficking.

Italian police released a video of the man they said was Mered arriving at an airport in Rome, but two Eritreans who live in Sudan told Reuters yesterday it was a case of mistaken identity.

Instead the man is Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe, an Eritrean refugee who wanted to emigrate to Europe, the two friends said. Other Eritrean witnesses in Sudan told Britain's Guardian newspaper the same thing.

Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday it helped track down Mered in Sudan. In response to the Guardian article, an NCA spokesperson said: "This is a complex multi partner operation and it is too soon to speculate about these claims."

Palermo prosecutors are scheduled to hold a first interview with the alleged smuggler on Friday in Rome, where he is being held.

Because they have numerous recordings of Mered in telephone conversations, prosecutors are considering the use of voice recognition software to help determine whether they got the smuggler or someone else, judicial sources said.