Britain Principled Plea

The message that Tom King carried to Washington last week was one of outrage and anger. The British government, warned Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, was distinctly unhappy about what it sees as congressional attempts to delay the approval and water down the terms of a new supplement to the extradition treaty between the U.S. and Britain. King reminded members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Thatcher had allowed U.S. planes to attack Libya from British bases. She had also backed U.S. demands for a strong antiterrorist stance by the European Community. Now, King implied, it was time for the U.S. to reciprocate.

London's lobbying effort was directed at the extradition treaty signed by the two governments nearly a year ago but stalled in Senate subcommittee ever since. It would change a provision of the previous pact, signed in l972, that has allowed Irish Republican Army gunmen taking refuge in the U.S. to escape extradition by claiming that their crimes were "political." The new treaty would make it easier for U.S. courts to send terrorists back to the United Kingdom for trial.

The treaty is opposed by a coalition of northeastern liberal Democrats, including Senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts, and Republican Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. The Democrats, many with large Irish-American constituencies, maintain that the I.R.A. is waging a legitimate struggle for political freedom. Helms cares little for the I.R.A., but worries that the new treaty would set a precedent, allowing Communist governments to demand the extradition of anti- communist guerrillas.

Since 1969, only five I.R.A. fugitives are believed to have fled to the U.S., but London sees a point of principle. Declared Thatcher two weeks ago: "If you are fighting terrorism, you cannot fight it on one front. There is no earthly use in our fighting terrorism (in Britain) knowing that Irish terrorists can get away to the U.S." Agrees President Reagan: "(Thatcher) is our staunchest ally in our battle against international terrorism. We need to stand tall with our British allies."

Both Reagan and Thatcher oppose a compromise that would permit extradition when crimes have been committed against civilians, but allow sanctuary when the target is military. At week's end the British were watching closely to see which way the Senate would vote. "Rejection will be seen as providing sanctuary for murderers and thugs," warned a Thatcher aide. "There will be tremendous anger."