ROME: An Italian prosecutor said Wednesday he is pushing ahead with an investigation into the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003, saying he might seek indictments as early as July. Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro said the investigation might be wrapped up by mid-July and then he would seek indictments against 22 purported CIA agents accused in the case. A judge must then rule on the whether they would stand trial. A trial might start toward the end of the year, Spataro told reporters at the Foreign Press association in Rome. In Italy, defendants can be tried in absentia. The 22 are accused of abducting Egyptian cleric and terrorist suspect Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003. Prosecutors claim he was taken by the CIA to a joint U.S.-Italian air base, flown to Germany and then to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. The operation was believed part of a CIA program in which terrorism suspects are transferred to third countries where some allegedly are subjected to torture. The CIA uses the euphemism extraordinary rendition to describe such operations. The Italian government has denied having prior knowledge of the operation, and prosecutors have said it represented a severe breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised their anti-terrorism efforts. Spataro is seeking the extradition of the 22 purported CIA agents accused in the abduction. The previous government of former conservative Premier Silvio Berlusconi decided against forwarding Spataro s extradition request to Washington, but Spataro has said he would ask the new center-left government led by Romano Prodi to make the request. Recent reports in the Italian media said that an Italian paramilitary police officer took part in the operation. Spataro did not confirm the reports, citing the ongoing investigation, but said that if evidence emerges that Italians are involved, then Italians will be incriminated. AP
