(AP) -- A former Red Brigade terrorist can be extradited to Italy because his crimes were not political, Switzerland's highest court ruled Tuesday.

(AP) -- A former Red Brigade terrorist can be extradited to Italy because his crimes were not political, Switzerland's highest court ruled Tuesday.

Marco Ghiringhelli, 57, absconded from Italy in December 1998 while on temporary release from prison in the northern town of Novara. He had received two life sentences for shooting dead two security guards during a bank robbery in Turin in 1982.

He was arrested in La Chaux-de-Fonds, near Switzerland's border with France, a month after his escape. In November, he was given a 30-month sentence here for planning an armed robbery.

In the apartment where Ghiringhelli was staying, police found a revolver, a Kalashnikov rifle, ammunition and four identity cards each bearing a different name. He was found guilty of preparing a hold-up, forging documents and breaking Swiss weapons laws.

Italy asked for Ghiringhelli's return, but his lawyer lodged an appeal.

The judges at the Federal Tribunal in Lausanne noted that Ghiringhelli was accused of being involved in three terrorist acts, in which nine people died.

They upheld the view of the Federal Police Office that the offences were not political. Under Swiss law, a person accused of a political crime cannot be extradited.

The court agreed to award Ghiringhelli's lawyer SFr4,000 ($2,530) to cover defence expenses.

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