CIA agents sought by Italian authorities over rendition

[baby_bear]

This is most interesting, and quite lengthy, article in today's NYTimes. I looked about and didn't see it posted elsewhere, but even if it was, it's worth another post, IMHO.
A separate but somewhat related article about the US and SPain is cited after the article about Italy.

Thirteen With the C.I.A. Sought by Italy in a Kidnapping

By STEPHEN GREY and DON VAN NATTA
Published: June 25, 2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/international/europe/25milan.html?ex=1120363200&en=a869f8ac7ef8a097&ei=5070

<snip>

MILAN, June 24 - An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 officers and operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency on charges that they seized an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street two years ago and flew him to Egypt for questioning, Italian prosecutors and investigators said Friday. The judge, Chiara Nobili of Milan, signed the arrest warrants on Wednesday for 13 C.I.A. operatives who are suspected of seizing an imam named Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, as he walked to his mosque here for noon prayers on Feb. 17, 2003. It is unclear what prompted the issuance of the warrants, but Judge Guido Salvini said in May that it was "certain" that Mr. Nasr had been seized by "people belonging to foreign intelligence networks interested in interrogating him and neutralizing him, to then hand him over to Egyptian authorities." Mr. Nasr, who was under investigation before his disappearance for possible links to Al Qaeda, is still missing, and his family and friends say he was tortured repeatedly by Egyptian jailers.
...
This is the first time a foreign country has tried to prosecute American agents for the process of rendition, in which terrorism suspects captured abroad are sent by the United States to their home countries or to third countries, some of which have records of torturing prisoners.
...
His journey to Egypt began on an Air Force Learjet, operated under a radio call-sign Spar 92, which is used by the 76th Airlift Squadron, in Ramstein, Germany. It took off from Aviano at 6:20 p.m. for Ramstein. There, a week later, Mr. Nasr was transferred onto a Gulfstream IV executive jet for Cairo, the warrants say. The Gulfstream belongs to a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox, Philip H. Morse. The warrant noted that Mr. Morse had previously confirmed that his jet was regularly leased to the C.I.A., with the team's logo covered. In an article in The Boston Globe on March 21, Mr. Morse was quoted as saying he was "stunned" by a newspaper report that the plane might have been used for renditions.

Mr. Nasr was released from custody in Egypt 14 months later, in April 2004, and he phoned his wife in Milan and an associate to say he had been subjected to electric shock treatments, the investigators said. He also described the route that he was taken shortly after his kidnapping, providing an important clue to the Italian police. Besides complaining about hearing loss in one ear, Mr. Nasr also said he could barely walk. Shortly after placing the calls, he was rearrested by the Egyptian police and has not been heard from again.

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and another, separate report about Spain:

U.S. Said to Bar Spanish From Terror Detainee
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/international/europe/25spain.html

</snip>

MADRID, June 24 - The Bush administration has refused to allow the Spanish authorities to interview a man accused of being an operative of Al Qaeda whose testimony could be crucial to the prosecution of two men on trial here charged with helping to plan the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Spanish officials say.
...
Spanish efforts to question Mr. bin al-Shibh date to a request sent to the American authorities by the investigating judge, Baltasar Garzón, in late 2003. He never received a reply, and his subsequent inquiries were also ignored, said a senior Spanish investigator who helped prepare the inquiries but who said he was prevented from commenting on the case for attribution during the trial. Mr. Rubira said he made a fresh request to speak with Mr. bin al-Shibh about three months ago, and had yet to get an answer. Under Spanish law, a suspect can be kept in custody for a maximum of four years without a conviction. Mr. Yarkas, who was arrested in November 2001, will be freed if he is not sentenced by December. Because of a mandatory appeals process and other procedures, the trial must conclude by July to guarantee that a final sentence is delivered by then, Mr. Rubira said.

In March 2004, the refusal of the United States to allow German lawyers to interview a Qaeda suspect, widely believed to be Mr. bin al-Shibh, led a German court to overturn the conviction of Mounir el-Motassadeq, a Moroccan who had been found guilty of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.
</snip>

I'm sure glad we are helping the global effort to fight terrorism.

Good Grief.

b_b