A legal change enacted just days before the Palermo crackdown will enable U.S. and Italian law-enforcement officials to cooperate more fully in the ongoing war against the Mafia. Under a new extradition treaty between the two countries, many of the obstacles that had made it difficult for officials in one country to pursue suspects in the other have been eliminated.
Among its features: both countries will now let their own citizens be extradited. Previously, Italy and the U.S. generally refused to send their nationals to be tried abroad. The pact also allows both governments to freeze any assets held by suspected fugitives.
The...