A former German Nazi SS captain was under house arrest in southern Argentina Tuesday pending extradition proceedings in connection with the worst war crime committed in Italy, an Argentine judge said.
Erich Priebke, 81, was arrested in the southern Andean resort of San Carlos de Bariloche, where he had lived for 46 years until he was traced by the U.S. television network ABC.Bariloche judge Leonidas Moldes told local radio he ordered the arrest on the request of Interpol and with the understanding that a formal extradition request from Italian authorities would follow.
"Among the documents we received was the promise that the extradition would be requested," Moldes said. He said Priebke was being held at his home because of his age and infirmity.
His arrest followed the issuance of a warrant Monday by an Italian military prosecutor who wants to try him in connection with the reprisal killings in March 1944 of 335 Italians at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome.
The Italian Justice Ministry said it had begun formal proceedings for Priebke's extradition. An Interior Ministry statement said two senior Italian Interpol officers had been dispatched to Argentina.
Priebke's lawyer, Pedro Bianchi, said Monday the extradition case was flawed and would likely fail. Bianchi, who defended former Argentine military junta leaders, said the massacre was a war crime subject to a 10-year statute of limitations in Argentina and not a crime against humanity.
Priebke, who lived in Bariloche without concealing his identity, says he fled Italy in 1948 with the help of the Vatican, a claim rejected by a leading Roman Catholic historian. He acknowledged in an ABC interview last week that he had been involved in the Ardeatine killings and said he regretted his part and had been following orders.