2.17.2007
CIA Agents Face Kidnap Trial in Milan (Guardian.co.uk)
Staff and agencies
Friday February 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr
A passport photo of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr in the mid-1990s. Photograph: AP
An Italian judge today ordered 26 Americans, almost all CIA agents, to stand trial on charges of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in 2003 and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
The Milan judge set a trial date for June 8. Prosecutors allege that five Italian intelligence officials worked with the Americans to abduct Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street in February 2003.
The Americans will almost certainly be tried in absentia.
Article continues
Among those indicted was the former Italian chief of military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari. Mr Pollari, the only defendant who appeared during the preliminary hearing, insisted that Italian intelligence played no role in the alleged abduction.
He told the judge he was unable to defend himself properly because documents clarifying his position had been excluded from the proceedings because they contain state secrets.
After his capture, Mr Nasr was allegedly transferred by vehicle to the Aviano air force base near Venice, then by air to the Ramstein air base in Germany, and then on to Egypt, where critics say he was tortured.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited > Special Report > Italy)
Friday February 16, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr
A passport photo of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr in the mid-1990s. Photograph: AP
An Italian judge today ordered 26 Americans, almost all CIA agents, to stand trial on charges of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in 2003 and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.
The Milan judge set a trial date for June 8. Prosecutors allege that five Italian intelligence officials worked with the Americans to abduct Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr from a Milan street in February 2003.
The Americans will almost certainly be tried in absentia.
Article continues
Among those indicted was the former Italian chief of military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari. Mr Pollari, the only defendant who appeared during the preliminary hearing, insisted that Italian intelligence played no role in the alleged abduction.
He told the judge he was unable to defend himself properly because documents clarifying his position had been excluded from the proceedings because they contain state secrets.
After his capture, Mr Nasr was allegedly transferred by vehicle to the Aviano air force base near Venice, then by air to the Ramstein air base in Germany, and then on to Egypt, where critics say he was tortured.
(More ... Guardian Unlimited > Special Report > Italy)
Labels: CIA, Extraordinary Rendition, Guardian
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