Cesare Battisti was on the run for 26 years before his arrest in 2007 Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has left it until his last day in office to rule on whether to extradite an Italian former left-wing militant.
Cesare Battisti was convicted in absentia of murdering four people in Italy in the 1970s during a series of left-wing kidnappings and killings.
He was arrested in Brazil in 2007 after being on the run for 30 years.
Some Brazilian media have reported that the president is likely to reject Italy's extradition request.
Battisti escaped from an Italian jail in 1981 while awaiting trial and has spent the intervening years in France - where he started a career as a novelist - Mexico and finally Brazil.
The 56-year-old denies the murder charges, says he is the victim of persecution in Italy and that he risks being killed if extradited.
The Italian government says the former member of the radical Armed Proletarians for Communism is a terrorist.
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Thursday that it would be "incomprehensible and unacceptable" if President Lula were to rule against extradition.
"President Lula will have to explain that choice, not only to the Italian government, but to all Italians and in particular the families of victims," Mr Berlusoni's office said in a statement.
Last year, when the Brazilian government declared Battisti a refugee, Italy protested by withdrawing its ambassador.
Brazil's Supreme Court later ruled that the fugitive should be sent back because of a bilateral extradition treaty with Italy, but it left the final say with President Lula.
The popular leftist president hands over to his elected successor Dilma Rousseff on 1 January.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-latin-america-12098475
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