Egyptian public, private sectors off on Apr 25 marking Sinai Liberation    Egypt's SCZONE welcomes Zhejiang Province delegation for trade talks    Beltone Venture Capital partners with Citadel International to manage $30m startup fund    S. Africa to use contingency reserves to tackle debt    Gaza health authorities urge action for cancer, chronic disease patients    Transport Minister discusses progress on supplying new railway carriages with Hungarian company    Egypt's local gold prices see minor rise on April 18th    Expired US license impacts Venezuela crude exports    Taiwan's TSMC profit ups in Q1    Yen Rises, dollar retreats as G7 eyes currency calm    Egypt, Bahrain vow joint action to end Gaza crisis    Egypt looks forward to mobilising sustainable finance for Africa's public health: Finance Minister    Egypt's Ministry of Health initiates 90 free medical convoys    Egypt, Serbia leaders vow to bolster ties, discuss Mideast, Ukraine crises    Singapore leads $5b initiative for Asian climate projects    Karim Gabr inaugurates 7th International Conference of BUE's Faculty of Media    EU pledges €3.5b for oceans, environment    Egypt forms supreme committee to revive historic Ahl Al-Bayt Trail    Debt swaps could unlock $100b for climate action    Acts of goodness: Transforming companies, people, communities    Eid in Egypt: A Journey through Time and Tradition    President Al-Sisi embarks on new term with pledge for prosperity, democratic evolution    Amal Al Ghad Magazine congratulates President Sisi on new office term    Tourism Minister inspects Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza Pyramids    Egypt's healthcare sector burgeoning with opportunities for investors – minister    Egypt starts construction of groundwater drinking water stations in South Sudan    Russians in Egypt vote in Presidential Election    Egyptian, Japanese Judo communities celebrate new coach at Tokyo's Embassy in Cairo    Uppingham Cairo and Rafa Nadal Academy Unite to Elevate Sports Education in Egypt with the Introduction of the "Rafa Nadal Tennis Program"    Egypt's powerhouse 'The Tank' Hamed Khallaf secures back-to-back gold at World Cup Weightlifting Championship"    Financial literacy becomes extremely important – EGX official    Euro area annual inflation up to 2.9% – Eurostat    Egypt builds 8 groundwater stations in S. Sudan    BYD، Brazil's Sigma Lithium JV likely    UNESCO celebrates World Arabic Language Day    Motaz Azaiza mural in Manchester tribute to Palestinian journalists    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Italian role investigated in CIA kidnapping of Egyptian cleric
Published in Daily News Egypt on 05 - 07 - 2006


Reuters
ROME: A magistrate is investigating whether Italian officials helped CIA agents abduct a terrorism suspect who says he was flown from Milan to Egypt and tortured, Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said on Monday. An Italian court has issued arrest warrants for 22 suspected U.S. agents accused of kidnapping Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in 2003 and flying him to Egypt. Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro had previously said there was no evidence that Italians helped in the alleged abduction. But Amato told Reuters in an interview that the prosecutor was continuing his investigation. I don t exclude that eventually, not only the American agents might be involved in that matter, Amato said. What the prosecutor in Milan is trying to understand is whether Italian officials were also involved in this matter. Spataro could not be reached for comment. A report by a Council of Europe investigator last month said the Nasr case was one in a global spider s web of secret CIA flights of terrorist suspects. Italy s former center-right government, which lost power in April elections, denied any role in the abduction. But the Council of Europe s investigator, Dick Marty, said It is unlikely that the Italian authorities were not aware of this large-scale CIA operation. Washington has acknowledged making secret rendition transfers of terrorism suspects between countries, but denies using torture or handing suspects over to countries that do so. Italian investigators had been wiretapping Nasr before his abduction and accused him of having ties to al Qaeda. In documents pre-dating media reports of a possible Italian police role in the abduction, prosecutors had maintained it was carried out solely by American agents. Amato said he had no information on reports that an Italian policeman had confessed to taking part in the kidnapping. But he said any conclusion by magistrates that Italy helped abduct Nasr could have consequences for a court extradition request, which the previous center-right administration had refused to forward to Washington. Should Italian officials be involved, it wouldn t be any more a unilateral U.S. operation. This would change the legal basis of everything, Amato said. -Additional reporting by Nelson Graves and Massimiliano Di Giorgio


Clic here to read the story from its source.