US software fugitive case bogged down in Namibia

WINDHOEK, July 9 (Reuters) The long-delayed extradition hearing of fugitive US millionaire and ex-software executive Jacob ''Kobi'' Alexander became bogged down in a Namibian court today over which judge should hear the case.

Alexander, arrested in the southwestern African nation last year, is wanted in the United States in connection with an alleged scheme to backdate millions of executive stock options at Comverse Technology Inc., the New York-based software maker he founded and led as chief executive.

Facing charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and other wrongdoing, he has hired a team of Namibian and South African lawyers to help him remain in Namibia, where he has pledged to invest million in various business and education projects.

Today defence lawyers argued that Petrus Unengu, who was appointed by Namibia's justice minister to hear the extradition, be removed from the case because his appointment threatened judicial independence and Alexander's right to a fair trial.

Unengu is Namibia's chief of lower courts.

''Our contention is that the chief of the lower courts is not a magistrate,'' defence attorney Peter Hodes told a court in the Namibian capital Windhoek. He added that there could be a ''reasonable'' expectation of bias because Unengu was a public servant in the Ministry of Justice.

The defence wants Uaatjo Uanivi, the magistrate who freed the Israeli-born Alexander on bail of 1.4 million dollar last October, to oversee the hearing, which has been delayed several times on procedural grounds.

Since his arrest, Alexander has been keeping a relatively high profile in Namibia, promoting his Kobi Alexander Enterprises venture as a business and charitable vehicle in the African nation.

Namibia's government has described Alexander as ''very passionate'' about the country and its 2.1 million people.

Critics, however, say he has tried to buy support in Namibia and avoid extradition by funding aid projects and making promises of future investments.

REUTERS SV PM2050