http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/ap/2006/10/25/europe/EU _GEN_Italy_CIA_Kidnapping.php
Official: question of whether U.S. told Italy of alleged plan to kidnap cleric is state secret The Associated Press WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2006 <http://ad.fr.doubleclick.net/jump/europe.iht.com;cat=index;sz=336x280;ord=1 23456789?> <http://ad.fr.doubleclick.net/ad/europe.iht.com;cat=index;sz=336x280;ord=123 456789?> ROME The question of whether Italy was told by its American allies of their supposed plan to kidnap an Egyptian cleric in Milan is protected as a state secret, the head of the Italian parliament's secret services committee said Wednesday. Milan prosecutors are seeking the arrest of 26 Americans, all but one believed to be CIA agents, in connection with the case of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr. The Egyptian cleric and terrorist suspect, also known as Abu Omar, allegedly was abducted in February 2003. The operation is believed to have been part of an alleged CIA "extraordinary rendition" program, in which terrorism suspects are transferred to third countries where some allegedly are subjected to torture. Prosecutors say the operation was conducted by CIA agents with assistance from Italian agents, and have called it a breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised their own anti-terrorism efforts. They say Nasr was flown via the joint U.S.-Italian Aviano air base and Germany to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. Undersecretary Enrico Micheli told parliament's secret services committee, however, that the question of whether Italian authorities knew of the kidnapping was protected information, the ANSA and Apcom agencies reported. "In response to our question as to whether American authorities had informed the Italian government before, after or during the supposed kidnapping of Abu Omar, Undersecretary Micheli said that the subject is covered by the state secret," committee president Claudio Scajola told reporters at the end of the committee's closed-door meeting. Scajola said that, according to Micheli, there was nothing to show that Italian state agencies were responsible for what happened that day. Prosecutors in Milan recently announced the conclusion of an investigation against the 26 Americans and several Italian intelligence officials. They include Nicolo Pollari, director of intelligence agency SISMI and the highest ranking Italian official named in the case. The pending indictments and the possible trial have raised the prospect of uncovering higher-level collusion between the Italian government of Silvio Berlusconi, which was in power at the time, and the U.S. administration. Berlusconi has maintained that his government and Italian secret services were not informed about the operation and had not taken part in it. Prosecutors say that top officials at SISMI - including Pollari - collaborated with the Americans to abduct Nasr. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
