I will be happy to go to the US if the court gives me a new trial

Ira Einhorn

The FBI said Einhorn would be handed over to Philadelphia police.

Einhorn was arrested at his home on Thursday, minutes after his lawyers were told that the French Government had approved his extradition.

Hours earlier, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had announced that it would not be asking France for any further delay in sending him back to the US.

Convicted in absentia

Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993 for the murder of his girlfriend Holly Maddux, whose family were swift to welcome the news of Einhorn's arrest.

Maddux was bludgeoned to death

"When we see him in handcuffs in the custody of an American citizen, we will be really happy," said her sister Meg Wakeman.

No death penalty

Einhorn lost his final appeal against his extradition from France last week, but the deportation was suspended for a week at the request of the European court.

It said on Thursday that the request was being dropped because Einhorn's medical condition was satisfactory and assurances had been given that he would not face the death penalty.

Holly Maddux's family want justice

Einhorn fled from Philadelphia while awaiting trial and vanished for more than 15 years.

But in 1997 he was discovered living under an assumed name in south-west France, sparking a legal battle to return him to the US.

Moments after the European court decision, Einhorn emerged from his home in the French village of Champagne-Mouton to declare his innocence.

"I will be happy to go to the US if the court gives me a new trial," he said.

He added that guarantees of a new trial from Philadelphia's district attorney were insufficient, saying he wanted them from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Victory for justice

In Philadelphia, a former city district attorney's office investigator who helped track down Einhorn called the developments in Strasbourg "a victory for justice".

The US court that tried him in absentia in 1993, found him guilty of bludgeoning Miss Maddux to death, and gave him a life sentence.

Einhorn says he fled the US because he would not have received a fair hearing, as he had organised demonstrations against the Vietnam war.