ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) Two members of a powerful Aruban banking family
face extradition to the United States on charges of drug trafficking and
money laundering.

Extradition is a touchy political issue on this Dutch Caribbean island. And
the case against the Mansur family is believed to have contributed to the
collapse of the coalition government last month.

Cousins Alex and Erick Mansur were arrested Oct. 3 along with Arubans David
Cybul and Randy Habibe after a judge agreed to hear a U.S. extradition
request. The four are charged with numerous counts of drug trafficking and
money laundering.

All except Habibe who is elderly, ailing, and in the hospital were
released on bail Wednesday. The Mansurs had to pay $1.1 million, Cybul
$550,000. The U.S. government has 60 days to present its case.

In a move to block the extraditions, the Mansur family this week foreclosed
on several loans outstanding to Prime Minister Henny Eman. He may be forced
into bankruptcy and out of the running in the Dec. 14 general elections.

The pressure on Eman is just one sign of the widespread influence of the
Mansur family, which is refusing to publish his election advertisements in
its newspaper. The Mansurs also own a free zone importexport business, a
casino, restaurants and a timeshare hotel complex.

"Anyone who's worked in fighting narcotics in the Caribbean knows of the
Mansurs," Special Agent Bill Mitchell of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration in Miami said Thursday.

U.S. narcotics officials long have alleged that the Mansurs have ties to
South American drug lords. Aruba is on the U.S. State Department list of
leading moneylaundering centers and the island, which lies about 20 miles
off the north coast of Venezuela, is a haven for South American drug
traffickers, according to the drugfighting agency.

The Mansurs have been wanted in the United States since 1994, U.S. Consul
Buddy Williams said from his office on nearby Curacao island. But up until
Oct. 1, when a new law took effect, the government prohibited extradition
of Aruban nationals.

The passage of the bill was eased by a weak and fractured coalition
government that collapsed on Sept. 15 during debate on the new penal code.

Glenbert Croes, leader of the defecting Aruba Liberal Party, complained
later that he did not understand that the code he voted for included the
extradition clause. He accused Eman's Aruba People's Party of pandering to
the interests of the United States and the Netherlands.

The extradition clause, which has become a leading campaign issue, also is
controversial because it favors Dutch citizens over Aruban nationals. While
Arubans have recourse only to the local court, Dutch nationals ordered
extradited can go to the Dutch appeals court.

Aruba split from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and obtained full control
of its legal affairs and most of its foreign affairs in a step toward
independence. But the island has remained part of the kingdom of the
Netherlands, which lately has played a bigger role in Aruban affairs,
mainly because of the mounting problem of drug trafficking and money
laundering.