Americans to stand trial in rendition case

Americans to stand trial in rendition case
By Tony Barber in Rome
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: February 16 2007 13:04 | Last updated: February 16 2007 13:04



An Italian judge on Friday ordered 25 alleged CIA agents and the former head of Italy’s military intelligence service to be put on trial on charges of kidnapping an Egyptian imam in Milan and spiriting him abroad in February 2003.

The trial will be the first criminal prosecution of people alleged to have been involved in the US Central Intelligence Agency’s controversial abductions of terrorist suspects after the attacks on the US of September 11 2001.

It also presents a fresh problem for US-Italian relations, already dogged by disputes over the planned expansion of a US military base in north-eastern Italy and the ability of Italy’s centre-left government to keep Italian forces fighting under Nato auspices in Afghanistan.

Caterina Interlandi, the Milan judge who ordered the trial, set June 8 as the date for the start of the proceedings.

The case concerns Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, who prosecutors say was kidnapped on a Milan street, bundled into a van, driven to a US airbase at Aviano, flown to another US base in Germany and then taken to Egypt for interrogation.

Among those accused are 26 Americans, all but one alleged to be CIA agents, and Nicolò Pollari, the former head of Italy’s military intelligence service, whom the government removed from his post last November.

None of the Americans is believed to be in Italy at present, and it appears improbable that any will show up voluntarily for the trial. Their court-appointed lawyers say they are not even in contact with their clients.

From the point of view of the US and Italian governments, however, the case has the potential to throw an unwelcome light on the degree to which Italy co-operated with the CIA kidnapping policy, known as the “rendition programme”.

The centre-left government of Romano Prodi, prime minister, is unwilling to meet prosecutors’ demands to seek the extradition of the Americans so that they appear in court in Milan.

The kidnapping of Mr Nasr occurred one month before the US-led invasion of Iraq, when Silvio Berlusconi, the centre-right opposition leader, was prime minister. He prided himself on being a devoted ally of the US but says his government was not involved in the abduction.

Mr Pollari has likewise denied responsibility for the kidnapping and told the court in a pre-trial hearing last month that he had “opposed any illegal actions” that may have taken place in connection with Mr Nasr.