Former State Secretary Agrees to Extradition

One of Germany's most wanted fugitives, a former aide to ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, has agreed to a quick extradition from France to face charges of corruption and tax fraud. Officials said Wednesday Holger Pfahls, who was state secretary for defense from 1989 to 1992, would be handed over to Germany "immediately" for trial as early as this autumn. Pfahls is suspected of taking nearly two million euros ($2.4 million) in bribes in connection to the sale of 36 armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia and failing to declare the earnings. The public prosecutor's office in Augsburg believes the 62-year-old pocketed the funds after helping German industrial giant Thyssen obtain the contract during the 1991 Gulf War. On the run for five years, Pfahls was finally arrested earlier this month in Paris.