Pompeo dodges questions on extradition of US diplomat over death of British teenager.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has dodged questions over why an American woman wanted for trial over the death of a British teenager has been allowed to “evade justice” by returning to the United States.
Pompeo caused fury in the UK by declining an extradition request for intelligence officer’s wife Anne Sacoolas, who is facing a charge of causing the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn in Northamptonshire by dangerous driving last year.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab last night expressed “disappointment” over the decision during talks with Pompeo on the first day of a two-day visit to London.
Pompeo was confronted directly about the Sacoolas case when he appeared on-stage with Mr Raab at a event in London, where he was asked: “Can you explain to us what is it about the special relationship that allows a US citizen to run over and kill an English boy and evade justice.”
The US secretary of state ducked the question, replying: “This was an enormous tragedy. An American had an accident here. The US is terribly sorry for the tragedy that took place and the loss of a British citizen’s life. It was horrible.
“We are doing everything we can to make it right. We are doing so in a way that I think protects the important relationship between the two countries as well.
“We will continue to work on this. Dominic raised this yesterday when we spoke. He has raised it each time we have spoken since it happened.
“We will continue to work our way through it to try to get a good resolution, a resolution that reflects the tragedy that took place that day.”
Later, the foreign secretary said he had never had any conversations about whether Prince Andrew could be traded for Sacoolas to assist the FBI investigation into the prince’s former friend Jeffrey Epstein.
Pompeo said he was “confident each of these cases will be resolved on their relative merits”.
Raab added: “I totally agree. There’s no barter, it’s a rules-based approach. That’s what the treaty does. And we both see the extradition treaty works for both sides.”
He said it had never been raised with him before.
