“I gave my word and after the required legal proceedings, he will be extradited to Venezuela. I am a man of my word,” the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos informed on Tuesday that his government would extradite Syrian-born businessman Walid Makled to Venezuela. Makled has been accused of drug trafficking.

During the presentation of his report entitled "100 Days in Office," Santos said that he had made that commitment to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez.

"I gave my word and after the required legal proceedings, he will be extradited to Venezuela. I am a man of my word," Santos said, as reported by the TV news channel Telesur.

"We will await the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice and when we have its approval we will extradite him," the Colombian president said. Santos added that the legal proceeding takes between six and 18 months, AFP reported.

"When we captured (Makled), Venezuela's request for extradition came long before the US' request. Venezuela's petition is not only related to drug trafficking but also to other crimes."