Australians are on standby to arrest Christopher Skase

The Australian government yesterday repeated its offer to have the sick Andratx-based business tycoon Christopher Skase examined by independent doctors and “flown back to Australia by medical evacuation under specialists care.” The move came after the Constitutional Court in Madrid rejected Skase's application to appeal against a Spanish government deportation order. Skase has been wanted in Australia for the past ten years for questioning in connection with the $AU1.5 billion collapse of his Qintex leisure and media empire. In 1994 he fought off an extradition attempt, but in March of 1999, he was issued with a formal expulsion order after he fell foul of the Spanish authorities trying to renew his residence permit with an invalid document - his null and void Australian passport.