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Police are still searching for an Italian man facing extradition on terrorism charges from the 1970s.Leonardo Bertulazzi after being arrested in 2002 in Buenos Aires.Credit...Natacha Pisarenko/Associated PressZane Irwin and Lucía Cholakian HerreraZane Irwin reported from New York. Lucia Cholakian Herrerra reported from Buenos Aires.Nov.

13, 2026, 4:56 p.m. ETTime was running out for Leonardo Bertulazzi.

After decades of safe harbor in Argentina, Mr. Bertulazzi, a former member of a far-left militant group that kidnapped and murdered Italy’s prime minister in 1978, faced imminent extradition back to Italy.In Europe, a 27-year prison sentence for terrorism-related crimes awaited Mr.

Bertulazzi, according to Argentina’s defense ministry.Mr. Bertulazzi, 74, was placed in house arrest.

The police were stationed across the street from the 5th-floor apartment he shared with his wife in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital. He’d had three strokes in the last two years, his lawyer said, and he was forced to wear an ankle monitor.None of that seemed to stop Mr.

Bertulazzi from planning his escape.On Tuesday, while much of the Buenos Aires’ law enforcement apparatus was focused on the visit by Pope Leo, two police officers checked on Mr. Bertulazzi during a routine shift change, according to an official with knowledge of an investigation into Mr.

Bertulazzi’s flight who was not authorized to speak publicly.But this time, when the officers rang the apartment’s doorbell, nobody answered. Investigators believe Mr.

Bertulazzi had escaped between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. that morning.Mr. Bertulazzi’s ankle monitor still showed he was at the apartment, the official said.

A search revealed a metal box holding a mess of wires plugged into an outlet, prompting the officers to call an explosives disposal unit, according to the official.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?

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