OPPOSITION member of Parliament for East Central St Andrew Dr Peter Phillips yesterday said the Government's about face on the Christopher "Dudus' Coke extradition issue, whether by "chance or design" could prejudice upcoming court proceedings and cause further delay.

The Authority to Proceed on the extradition request was signed by Justice Minister and Attorney General Dorothy Lightbourne yesterday, hours after Prime Minister Bruce Golding -- in a national address -- announced that he had given the go ahead for the process to begin. A warrant has since been issued for the arrest of Coke, who is wanted in the United States on alleged gun-running and drug-trafficking charges.

Yesterday, Phillips said the Opposition was baffled as to how Golding's "principles are so easily adjusted".

"...Because if it was a matter for which he was prepared to die politically for Mr Coke a few days ago, it seems he has yielded on that fundamental principle, which we believe was misguided in the first place, and is simply willing to abandon it now when the voice of Jamaica has been heard," Phillips said.

"The way in which it was done not only has the potential of prejudicing the court proceedings but if it is he filed an affidavit a few days ago saying it was not valid and then proceeds on the course he is now proceeding I don't know how to look at it. But whether by design originally or whether by chance, what he has done is prepared the case for Mr Coke, for the defence, and could contribute to further delay," he added.

Prior to Monday night's announcement, Golding had been adamant that the Government would not sign the request until the United States furnished it with additional information, arguing that the evidence held by the US had been illegally obtained.

In the meantime expressing fears about what he described as an "apparent descent into mob rule" since the announcement of Coke's pending extradition, Phillips said the Opposition was concerned about their personal safety.

"I am concerned about the safety of all of us. We are not saying what we know but we have reason to be concerned," Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller told journalists yesterday. She said the party had raised the issue with the Police High Command.

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