The Red Brigades were blamed for attacks in the 1970s and 1980s

Alessio Casimirri fled to Nicaragua in 1983 when the left-wing Sadinista Front governed the country.

He was convicted in his absence of the kidnap and murder of Moro in 1991, but has denied any involvement.

The Red Brigades, a far-left militant group, was blamed for a series of attacks in Italy in the 1970s and 80s.

Italy tried to extradite Mr Casimirri in the early 1990s without success.

But following the arrest in Egypt of his ex-wife, Rita Algranati, last month, along with another Red Brigades member, the Italian foreign ministry decided to renew its efforts.

Denial

The Red Brigades claimed responsibility for kidnapping Moro, then head of the Christian Democratic party, in 1978.

He was abducted in a street in Rome and four of his bodyguards were killed in the kidnapping.

Moro was held for 55 days before he was killed and his body dumped in the boot of a car near the headquarters of the Christian Democrats and Communist parties in Rome.

In an interview with Nicaragua's Nuevo Diario, Mr Casimirri said that he had been a member of the Red Brigades but denied that he participated in the Moro murder.

He added that he feared Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolanos would try to deport him.