Di Stefano held on British warrant

High-profile lawyer Giovanni di Stefano, who once acted as a consultant to Saddam Hussein’s defence team, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud on a British warrant in Spain.

He was held last night in a mansion in Palma on the island of Mallorca.

Mr Di Stefano was taken to hospital after his arrest and will undergo surgery, Spanish police said, but refused to give further details.

A City of London Police spokesman confirmed a 55-year-old man had been arrested in Palma on suspicion of fraud.

He said the arrest was part of an “ongoing investigation”.

Mr Di Stefano is one of several non-Arab lawyers who acted as consultants to the team that defended the deposed Iraqi dictator and associates in his regime.

He also defended former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz, the international face of the Saddam regime, and convicted drug dealer Patrick 'Dutchy' Holland, who was named during his 1997 trial by a garda as the man who shot journalist Veronica Guerin.