Video torture INTERIOR Minister Habib El-Adli has ordered an investigation to determine the identity of a female suspect who apparently was tortured by police. The alleged incident was captured in a video tape and published by the press. A still frame from the video published on the front page of the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom on Sunday showed a woman, tied to a bar hung between two chairs and apparently screaming, being interrogated. The video was also put on the Internet and showed a woman allegedly confessing to a murder in what appeared to be a police interrogation. The investigation comes in the wake of the detention of two policemen on 27 December on charges of sexually assaulting a minibus driver after another graphic video was posted on the web. Human rights activists worldwide have repeatedly charged that Egyptian police routinely torture and abuse suspects during questioning. The Interior Ministry has denied the charge. Divers not found AUTHORITIES on Tuesday called off a search for four divers, including three foreigners, missing off a Red Sea resort. The divers are presumed dead. "Egyptian rescue teams have not managed to find any of the four divers who went missing in the Red Sea," a statement issued by the authorities said. "All search operations have been called off after deciding that finding any of the four divers was nearly impossible." The divers were two Russians, a Dutchman and an Egyptian guide. The Egyptian was identified as Mahmoud Ahmed Hamdan and the Russian as Dmitry Kapitonov. A Russian female diver was identified as Yelena Sundukova and the Dutchman Michel Van Assendeof. They were reported missing Saturday near the resort town of Marsa Alam, almost 700 kilometres southeast of Cairo where they were exploring a coral reef. A helicopter and 15 boats had been searching for the divers since Saturday after they left their boat in shark-infested Red Sea waters. The Red Sea Association for Diving and Marine Sport said the divers had been missing for too long a period and that it did not expect to find survivors. "I am sorry to say there is no chance of finding them alive," said Alaaeddin Abdel-Galil, head of the association. "We are limiting the search to the coastal areas, looking for their bodies," he said. Abdel-Galil said the guide was an experienced diver and the Russian a professional diving instructor. But he added the waves were high and the divers did not have flashlights or whistles which could have helped rescuers locate them. The Red Sea, particularly the reefs in the southern areas, is a major diving attraction, with thousands flocking to Egyptian resorts such as Marsa Alam. Kidnap case A MILAN judge began deliberations on Tuesday to decide whether 25 CIA agents and a US air force colonel should face trial over the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in the northern Italian city. Judge Caterina Interlandi is to decide whether the case, which implicates the former head of the Italian military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari, and his deputy, Marco Mancini, should go to trial. The case highlights the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme, in which suspects are transferred to third countries where critics say they may face torture. Pollari was fired because of his connection to the affair which has strained relations between Rome and Washington. He said through his lawyers that he would call Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi as witnesses if the case goes to court, a procedure that may take several months. Defendant Bob Seldon, a former CIA station chief in Milan, said through his lawyer on Tuesday that he did not recognise the Milan court. "My client thinks that the solution of this matter is political and doesn't recognise the judicial authority," Daria Pesce said. "The Italian government could have decided it was a state secret -- remember, this was a terror suspect. It would have been possible if the Italian government had had the courage to reach an agreement with the US government," he added. Both men cited state security during the judicial investigation into the kidnapping of Osama Mustafa Hassan, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in February 2003. Abu Omar, who was blindfolded and bound, was taken to an underground cell and was said to be repeatedly tortured and threatened with rape. Prosecutors say he was flown via the joint US-Italian Aviano air base first to a base in Germany and then on to Egypt. He is being kept in a police station in Alexandria. Abu Omar said that when he arrived in Egypt, he was put in a tiny cell with no light. He said he was tortured with electric shocks, punched, slapped and forced to walk on one foot with his hands tied. The interrogation lasted seven months, at which time he was transferred to another building where he was held for another six months. Prosecutors say the operation was a breach of Italian sovereignty that compromised their own anti-terrorism efforts. None of the defendants attended the closed session, which lasted about three hours and ended without a decision. Five other Italians are also accused in the kidnapping. Roberto Castelli, who was justice minister under Berlusconi, refused to transmit a request for the extradition of the 26 US citizens named in the Abu Omar case to Washington. The Americans are already the subject of a Europe-wide arrest warrant. The next hearing is scheduled for 29 January.
