Italy Judge orders CIA arrests

Hi Walter....I'm afraid that the one eyed man beat you to it on this subject, and the debate seems to be ongoing............

Politicians demand inquiry into CIA operations in Italy

By Peter Popham in Rome
27 June 2005


Senior politicians are calling for a full inquiry into the activities of United States intelligence operatives in Italy, after a Milan judge issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents. The agents allegedly abducted a suspected Islamic militant and took him to Egypt for interrogation.

Paolo Cento, a Green party MP who is vice-chairman of the Justice Committee of the lower house of parliament, has demanded an explanation of the episode from both the Italian interior and defence ministers.

"What has emerged from the investigations requires a political clarification," he said. "We want to know if US secret agents are free to operate in Italy, and if that is the case, we want to know how the government will ensure national sovereignty."

In issuing the warrants, Judge Chiara Nobili took an unprecedented stand against the US policy of "extraordinary rendition", popularly known as "outsourcing torture".

The 13, three of them women and one of them allegedly a former US consul in Milan, are said to have seized the Islamic suspected from a street in Milan and flown him to Egypt.

Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, an Egyptian national, was the militant imam of a Milan mosque. He had been granted political asylum in Italy, but was being investigated by the Italian authorities for terrorist links. He was seized on 17 February 2003 while walking to his mosque, bundled into a van and driven away.

Mr Nasr was taken to the joint US-Italian air base at Aviano, north of Venice, and flown to Cairo via Germany. Last year he telephoned his wife and friends in Milan after being released and told them that he had been taken to a secret prison in Egypt and tortured with electric shocks.

For many Italians, the behaviour of the CIA agents betrays a contempt for territorial boundaries that leaves them near-speechless. The investigators were able to build up a detailed picture of the Americans' movements because they took no precautions, staying at Milan's most expensive hotels for weeks on end and using Italian cellphones and insecure hotel landlines for long conversations.

Italian investigators are also fuming at the casual way the Americans sabotaged their own investigations. "We supplied them with information about Abu Omar, then they used the information against us, undermining our entire operation against his terrorist network," a senior Italian investigator told The New York Times.

"The American system is of little use to us. We give them what we have, but we are given no useful information that can help us prosecute people."

Guido Salvini, the judge in charge of preliminary investigations in the case, said the abduction "was illegal because it violated Italian sovereignty, but it also had a negative impact on the overall war on terror".

If the CIA had not intervened, he went on, "Abu Omar might be standing trial in Italy now".

Extraordinary rendition, the American practice of exporting foreigners suspected of involvement in terrorism to countries where torture is routine, has been practised since the mid-1990s, but became frequent after the 11 September attacks. Egypt is the most common destination, but suspects have also been sent to Syria, Morocco and Jordan.

The indignation of the Italian authorities has been further fuelled by emerging evidence of an attempted cover-up of the abduction by the CIA, which in 2003 informed Italian anti-terrorism officers that the Milan imam had fled to Bosnia to evade police investigations.

Italy eyes extradition of CIA-led kidnappers-source27 Jun 2005

Source: Reuters

By Phil Stewart

ROME, June 27 (Reuters) - Italy plans to seek the extradition of 13 CIA-led agents for the abduction of a radical Muslim cleric who was flown to Egypt and said he was tortured in prison there, a judicial source said on Monday.

The source, who declined to be named, said Italian prosecutors were considering treating the suspects as common fugitives and issuing an international request for their extradition to Italy.

"(Italian prosecutors) are evaluating procedures to expand the search for the fugitives internationally ... with the goal of their capture and extradition," the source told Reuters, without giving further details.

The U.S. embassy in Rome declined comment.

Milan Judge Chiara Nobili issued domestic arrest warrants last week for 10 men and three women, all believed to be U.S. citizens, a source said. Italian media say some have listed addresses in Washington and Virginia, many of them fictitious residences or post office boxes.

Prosecutors believe the suspects have left Italy, making extradition necessary if they do not come forward voluntarily.

Prosecutors have linked all 13 to the Feb. 17, 2003 abduction of imam Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, an Italian resident who was under investigation in Milan for terrorism at the time of his disappearance.

Court documents say that after being abducted Nasr, who was of Egyptian origin, was flown to Egypt and handed over to authorities there.

The Justice Ministry said it reviews all extradition requests but has not yet officially commented on the Nasr case.

If confirmed, it would be the first time that a close U.S. ally in the war on terrorism has sought the extradition of Americans on suspicion of carrying out "renditions", or secret transfers of suspects to foreign states for questioning.

OUTRAGE IN ITALY

The abduction of Nasr, who claims to have been partly crippled in Egyptian custody, sparked outrage in Italy.

Former President and Prime Minister Francesco Cossiga invoked national sovereignty and said the government should demand answers from U.S. President George W. Bush.

"It would also be opportune to remind the American government, in the right ways, that the Republic of Italy is an independent and sovereign state," Cossiga said.

"The dramatic international situations (of the Cold War) are definitively over ... in which our country had a sort of limited sovereignty on matters of foreign, military and intelligence policy."

Opposition leaders are calling for a parliamentary hearing to see whether there was any Italian role in the operation. But the judicial source said there was no sign Italy was involved.

Nasr himself may clarify events. An Italian judge filed terrorism charges against him last week, raising the possibility that Egyptian authorities could send him back to Italy to face trial -- if they have him in custody.

Italy's Corriere della Sera on Monday quoted Abdelhamid Shari, a director at the Islamic institute in Milan, as saying Nasr, 42, was alive and being held in a prison in Cairo.

Trial unlikely for CIA suspects accused of abduction in Italy

By Adam Liptak The New York Times

TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2005


WASHINGTON The chances are remote that the 13 people linked to the CIA who were ordered arrested by an Italian judge last week will ever stand trial there, experts in international law said.

The 13 people, charged with illegally seizing an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street two years ago and flying him to Egypt for questioning, are presumed to have left Italy.

If they are indeed Americans and CIA officers and operatives, as described in the arrest warrants, and if they are now in the United States, Washington may in theory be obligated to extradite them. But as a practical matter, experts said, it is almost inconceivable that the government will turn over agents who had carried out an operation authorized by the government and meant to combat terrorism.

"There is close to no probability that the United States is going to extradite any of these people to Italy, notwithstanding the letter of any treaty," Peter Spiro, who teaches international law at the University of Georgia, said Sunday. "It's very unlikely that there is going to be any sort of cooperation on this end."

It is not unusual for intelligence operations to violate local laws, but operations like the one at issue here are typically undertaken with at least the tacit blessing of the local government.

The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has made no official comment about the case.

"If the apprehension and removal, to use those relatively neutral terms," said Douglass Cassel Jr., who teaches international law at Northwestern University, "of this individual were done without the knowledge and authorization of at least some part of the Italian government, then it's a clear violation of international law."

The extradition treaty between the United States and Italy on its face would seem to apply to the crime alleged. Extradition is required, with few exceptions, where the offense in question gives rise to punishment of more than one year in both countries.

The 13 Americans are accused of the crime of kidnapping, which carries serious penalties in Italy and the United States.

The treaty contains exceptions for "political and military offenses," but neither exception fits neatly here.

The Egyptian cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, is still missing. His family has said that he telephoned them from Egypt to say he has been repeatedly tortured in Egyptian custody.

Before his disappearance, Nasr had been under investigation for possible links to Al Qaeda.

Whatever the formal terms of the extradition treaty, legal experts agreed, it is all but certain that Washington will decline to turn over any intelligence officers or agents.

"If you send a United States citizen overseas to carry out a mission," said Ruth Wedgwood, who teaches international law at Johns Hopkins University, "you are not likely then to abandon him."

American officials would probably invoke any available argument to oppose an extradition request, Cassel said.

"I could imagine the United States playing games," Cassel said. "If the extradition request came in the name of the false passport, they could say, 'We have no knowledge of such a person."'

Of the 13 names mentioned in the warrants of people being sought for arrest, research indicates that 11 may be aliases.

The CIA's practice of rendition - seizing people and sending them to other countries for interrogation - has been the subject of mounting international criticism, especially because some of the countries involved are known to use torture. This has caused a deepening rift between the United States and even some of its strongest allies.

WASHINGTON The chances are remote that the 13 people linked to the CIA who were ordered arrested by an Italian judge last week will ever stand trial there, experts in international law said.

The 13 people, charged with illegally seizing an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street two years ago and flying him to Egypt for questioning, are presumed to have left Italy.

If they are indeed Americans and CIA officers and operatives, as described in the arrest warrants, and if they are now in the United States, Washington may in theory be obligated to extradite them. But as a practical matter, experts said, it is almost inconceivable that the government will turn over agents who had carried out an operation authorized by the government and meant to combat terrorism.

"There is close to no probability that the United States is going to extradite any of these people to Italy, notwithstanding the letter of any treaty," Peter Spiro, who teaches international law at the University of Georgia, said Sunday. "It's very unlikely that there is going to be any sort of cooperation on this end."

It is not unusual for intelligence operations to violate local laws, but operations like the one at issue here are typically undertaken with at least the tacit blessing of the local government.

The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has made no official comment about the case.

"If the apprehension and removal, to use those relatively neutral terms," said Douglass Cassel Jr., who teaches international law at Northwestern University, "of this individual were done without the knowledge and authorization of at least some part of the Italian government, then it's a clear violation of international law."

The extradition treaty between the United States and Italy on its face would seem to apply to the crime alleged. Extradition is required, with few exceptions, where the offense in question gives rise to punishment of more than one year in both countries.

The 13 Americans are accused of the crime of kidnapping, which carries serious penalties in Italy and the United States.

The treaty contains exceptions for "political and military offenses," but neither exception fits neatly here.

The Egyptian cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, is still missing. His family has said that he telephoned them from Egypt to say he has been repeatedly tortured in Egyptian custody.

Before his disappearance, Nasr had been under investigation for possible links to Al Qaeda.

Whatever the formal terms of the extradition treaty, legal experts agreed, it is all but certain that Washington will decline to turn over any intelligence officers or agents.

"If you send a United States citizen overseas to carry out a mission," said Ruth Wedgwood, who teaches international law at Johns Hopkins University, "you are not likely then to abandon him."

American officials would probably invoke any available argument to oppose an extradition request, Cassel said.

"I could imagine the United States playing games," Cassel said. "If the extradition request came in the name of the false passport, they could say, 'We have no knowledge of such a person."'

Of the 13 names mentioned in the warrants of people being sought for arrest, research indicates that 11 may be aliases.

The CIA's practice of rendition - seizing people and sending them to other countries for interrogation - has been the subject of mounting international criticism, especially because some of the countries involved are known to use torture. This has caused a deepening rift between the United States and even some of its strongest allies.

The CIA's practice of rendition - seizing people and sending them to other countries for interrogation - has been the subject of mounting international criticism, especially because some of the countries involved are known to use torture. This has caused a deepening rift between the United States and even some of its strongest allies.

CIA abduction in Italy shows U.S. bungling - experts

Wed Jun 29, 2005

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA agents charged with kidnapping a Muslim cleric in Milan appear to have bungled their way into an international incident by ignoring the most basic rules of the spy trade, experts say.

Far from the suave discretion of James Bond, experts say the operatives who snatched radical Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr on February 17, 2003, sound more like the bumbling secret agent Austin Powers of movie fame.

"Instead of super-sleuths, they were like elephants stampeding through Milan. They left huge footprints," said former CIA clandestine officer Melissa Boyle Mahle.

Media reports say the agents placed phone calls to CIA headquarters on unsecured lines, ran up $145,000 (80,320 pounds) in bills at luxury hotels and operated far enough in the open for Italian authorities to learn their operational identities.

"Everybody knows that telephones can be traced. It's not exactly an emerging technology," said one former spy.

In fact, current and former intelligence officials, who had no actual knowledge of Nasr's abduction, said Italian accounts depict an amateur operation.

Several other intelligence sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the case involves a covert U.S. operation.

"The tradecraft was beyond appalling," said an intelligence official with long experience in clandestine affairs. "I'd have to wonder if these were CIA officers trained in the clandestine arts."

Some suggested the operation could have been carried out by intelligence officials from the FBI or the U.S. military.

TRADECRAFT ERODED?

But intelligence experts say tradecraft -- the bag of tricks spies use to execute operations without being detected -- has eroded at the CIA since the end of the Cold War and may not have improved much since the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Loch Johnson, who teaches international affairs at the University of Georgia, said the mechanical gadgetry available to modern American spies is vastly more sophisticated.

"But one could argue that overall tradecraft expertise has not been at the level as it was during the Cold War," he said.

The abduction of Nasr, who court documents say was flown to Egypt and tortured there, threatens to rattle U.S.-Italian relations three months after U.S. troops shot dead an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq without facing disciplinary action.

Italian prosecutors are considering calling for the extradition of 13 people involved in the operation, while Italians are demanding to know if their own government was also involved.

"The Italians wouldn't necessarily be involved. You try to get local co-operation. But if the locals aren't helpful, you do it alone. You have to," said a former senior CIA officer.

Nasr, who is also known as Abu Omar, is under investigation in Italy for possible terrorism links.

The CIA has broad powers to abduct terrorism suspects overseas and transfer them to third countries under a classified directive signed by President George W. Bush days after the September 11 attacks, U.S. officials have said.

One former CIA official said a rendition operation like the one in Milan would probably involve only one or two CIA staff members. Others would likely be Italian nationals or foreigners hired on a contract basis.

Neither the Bush administration nor the government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is likely to support extradition, given the national security aspects of the case, legal experts say.

"But it does show the importance of dealing with terrorists in ways that are broadly supported around the world," said John Moore, director of the Centre for National Security Law at the University of Virginia.

Rome: No knowledge of 'CIA kidnap'


ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The Italian government has denied having any prior knowledge of the alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in 2003.

Amid Italian outrage over the case, the government also said Thursday it had summoned Mel Sembler, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, over the incident.

Carlo Giovanardi, minister for relations with parliament, made the statement to the Senate in response to opposition questions about whether Italian authorities knew in advance of plans to kidnap the suspected Islamic militant.

The allegations came to prominence last week when an Italian judge issued arrest warrants against 13 alleged CIA operatives in connection with the seizure of Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan, also known as Abu Omar, in a Muslim community in Milan.

Milanese prosecutors accuse the 13 of having organized the cleric's kidnapping on February 17, 2003, and secretly flying him to Egypt, where he was interrogated and allegedly tortured, a source close to the investigation told CNN last week.

The 13 are believed to have left Italy and none have been arrested, according to Reuters.

U.S. Ambassador Mel Sembler is currently in the United States and is expected to return to Rome later this week, perhaps as soon as Friday. Washington has declined to comment formally on the arrest warrant.

Responding to Giovanardi's statement, opposition Senator Tana De Zulueta referred to a report in Thursday's Washington Post that claimed the CIA chief in Rome had sought permission from an Italian official before the alleged operation.

The report cited three unidentified CIA veterans said to have had knowledge of the operation and a fourth said to have reviewed it after it took place.

One of the veterans claimed in the report that the CIA "told a tiny number of people" about the action. The report said it was unclear how high in the Italian intelligence service the information was shared or whether Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was aware.

At De Zulueta's reference to the article, Giovanardi shouted out: "It's false," according to The Associated Press.

CNN Correspondent Alessio Vinci also said he had seen documents signed by top intelligence officials saying they had no prior knowledge of the alleged operation.

Italian investigators say Nasr had been under surveillance for possible terrorist activities and they were close to arresting him.

The deputy district attorney of Milan and lead investigator, Armando Spataro, issued this statement to CNN last week:

"If the kidnapping of the person in question had not been carried out, Nasr ... would now be detained and subject to Italian justice. ... More importantly, the ongoing investigations had revealed important information which could have led to other suspects and arrests.

"The Italian investigation was a major breakthrough into a terrorist network in Milan which also operated overseas. Therefore, the kidnapping of Nasr ... is not just a totally illegal act that violates gravely Italy's sovereignty, but it is also a damaging and counterproductive act against the efficiency of the fight against terrorism."

Italy divided?
The warrant is still sealed but leaks to the Italian media and an official statement by the prosecutors' office have revealed the suspects' names, telephone records and wiretap transcripts.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, during a visit to Cairo last week, criticized the Egyptian government for emergency law and arbitrary justice, according to Reuters.

"What's the point of the frank dialogue ... if then the CIA sends Abu Omar, illegally kidnapped in Italy, to Cairo to be interrogated by thugs," asked leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Wednesday.

The row over the alleged operation comes only months after Italian agent Nicola Calipari was shot dead by U.S. troops at a checkpoint as he escorted a freed Italian hostage, Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad airport in March.

"Abu Omar risks further dividing Italy after the wretched epilogue of the Sgrena case," Corriere said.

"This is about a kidnapping that took place on the soil of a sovereign country, a friend and ally of Washington."

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. more than 100 terrorism suspects are believed to have been transferred by the U.S. to Pakistan, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Uzbekistan and other countries, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper.

Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Berlusconi demands US 'respect'

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has demanded the US show "full respect" for his country's sovereignty, in an official statement.
His message was delivered to the US ambassador, who was summoned to explain the alleged CIA abduction of an Islamic cleric in Milan in 2003.

Italy denies prior knowledge of the alleged operation to fly Osama Mustafa Hassan, 42, to Egypt for interrogation.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 13 alleged CIA agents.

"The prime minister demanded full respect for Italian sovereignty from the United States," said the statement, which followed Mr Berlusconi's meeting with ambassador Mel Sembler.

The statement said the prime minister received assurances from Mr Sembler that the US' "respect was full and total, and that it would remain so in the future."

'Terrorism links'

Mr Hassan, also known as Abu Omar, was already being investigated in Italy as part of a terrorism inquiry at the time of his reported abduction.


Italian prosecutors believe the operation was part of a controversial US anti-terror policy known as "extraordinary rendition".
The policy involves seizing suspects and taking them to third countries without court approval.

Minister for Parliamentary Relations Carlo Giovanardi has told senators that neither the Italian government nor its intelligence services knew about the operation.

But the Washington Post quoted unnamed CIA veterans saying the CIA station chief in Rome had informed Italian officials in advance.

They said that it was agreed that if the operation became public neither side would confirm its involvement.

No arrests have been made in the case since the warrants were issued. None of the suspects is currently believed to be in Italy.

Mr Hassan, who had been granted refugee status in Italy, was allegedly abducted in February 2003, while walking from his house to his local mosque.

He was then reportedly driven to a US base north of Venice before eventually being taken to Egypt.

The imam told his family he had been tortured with electric shocks during his detention.

Italian investigators say his disappearance hampered an ongoing investigation into alleged terrorist links.

They managed to track down the 13 suspected agents through the Italian mobile phones they used during the operation.

Up to 200 Italian police 'ran parallel anti-terror force'

By John Philips in Rome

Published: 05 July 2005

Up to 200 police officers and former intelligence operatives are being investigated by Italian magistrates on charges of organising an illegal "parallel" police force to combat terrorism.

The shadowy group appears to have set itself up as a private security firm, offering protection to senior figures, and illicitly using official police resources. Its leaders have been accused of "usurping" public functions and illegal usie of classified data.

Judge Francesco Lalla, Genoa's chief prosecutor, said the self-styled "Department for Anti-terrorist Strategic Studies," (Dssa) maintained an arsenal of weaponry, stored by its accused commanders Gaetano Saya and Riccardo Sindaco, both with links with the Italian far right. The revelations have heightened many Italians' unease about the strategies of the government of Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, against Islamist terrorism.

Judicial sources said the Dssa recruited from police, paramilitary carabinieri, finance police and the armed services and presented itself to Italian institutions as well as potential recruits as an elite body specialising in fighting Islamic and Marxist terrorism.

Mr Saya, now under house arrest, had applied for €32m (£21.6m) in European Union finance and had allegedly sought contact with the Vatican to try to obtain a contract to protect of Pope Benedict against terrorist attack.

Magistrates focused on the Dssa after it allegedly claimed to have a video of the murder in Iraq of the Italian hostage Fabrizio Quatrocchi and tried to sell the footage. Investigators are trying to determine what official support the organisation may have had.

The Interior Minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, has suspended dozens of police officers who joined the network. But Carlo Taormina, an MP from Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, insists Dssa was a bona fide security company with nothing to hide and "the high commands of the police and intelligence services were aware of its existence".

Il Messaggero quoted an investigator who said it was particularly disturbing that phone intercepts suggested Dssa members had been planning to kidnap Cesare Battisti, a Red Brigades activist living in exile in Paris. "We were seeing the genesis of something similar to the death squads in Argentina," the magistrate is reported to have said.

The group was charged with making unauthorised use of interior ministry data bank information as well as equipping cars with sirens and flashing lights and the official "lollipop" sticks, used by Italian police to stop traffic or wave as they break traffic regulations.

Gilberto Di Benedetto, an associate of Mr Saya who acted as a middleman with the Vatican, said most members had joined the Dssa in good faith, despite its farcical aspect. "There were people who were hoping for power or to become private investigators, but there also were many police officers and sergeants who believed the Dssa would advance their careers," he said.

La Repubblica newspaper quoted Michael Scheuer, a former CIA agent and head of the "Bin Laden unit" at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, until last November, as saying the head of Italy's military intelligence agency Sismi had authorised the CIA to abduct Abu Omar, a militant Islamic cleric who was flown from Milan to Egypt and reportedly tortured.

Mr Berlusconi's government denies knowledge of the affair, which became public after Milan magistrates issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents.

Up to 200 police officers and former intelligence operatives are being investigated by Italian magistrates on charges of organising an illegal "parallel" police force to combat terrorism.

The shadowy group appears to have set itself up as a private security firm, offering protection to senior figures, and illicitly using official police resources. Its leaders have been accused of "usurping" public functions and illegal usie of classified data.

Judge Francesco Lalla, Genoa's chief prosecutor, said the self-styled "Department for Anti-terrorist Strategic Studies," (Dssa) maintained an arsenal of weaponry, stored by its accused commanders Gaetano Saya and Riccardo Sindaco, both with links with the Italian far right. The revelations have heightened many Italians' unease about the strategies of the government of Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, against Islamist terrorism.

Judicial sources said the Dssa recruited from police, paramilitary carabinieri, finance police and the armed services and presented itself to Italian institutions as well as potential recruits as an elite body specialising in fighting Islamic and Marxist terrorism.

Mr Saya, now under house arrest, had applied for €32m (£21.6m) in European Union finance and had allegedly sought contact with the Vatican to try to obtain a contract to protect of Pope Benedict against terrorist attack.

Magistrates focused on the Dssa after it allegedly claimed to have a video of the murder in Iraq of the Italian hostage Fabrizio Quatrocchi and tried to sell the footage. Investigators are trying to determine what official support the organisation may have had.

The Interior Minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, has suspended dozens of police officers who joined the network. But Carlo Taormina, an MP from Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, insists Dssa was a bona fide security company with nothing to hide and "the high commands of the police and intelligence services were aware of its existence".
Il Messaggero quoted an investigator who said it was particularly disturbing that phone intercepts suggested Dssa members had been planning to kidnap Cesare Battisti, a Red Brigades activist living in exile in Paris. "We were seeing the genesis of something similar to the death squads in Argentina," the magistrate is reported to have said.

The group was charged with making unauthorised use of interior ministry data bank information as well as equipping cars with sirens and flashing lights and the official "lollipop" sticks, used by Italian police to stop traffic or wave as they break traffic regulations.

Gilberto Di Benedetto, an associate of Mr Saya who acted as a middleman with the Vatican, said most members had joined the Dssa in good faith, despite its farcical aspect. "There were people who were hoping for power or to become private investigators, but there also were many police officers and sergeants who believed the Dssa would advance their careers," he said.

La Repubblica newspaper quoted Michael Scheuer, a former CIA agent and head of the "Bin Laden unit" at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, until last November, as saying the head of Italy's military intelligence agency Sismi had authorised the CIA to abduct Abu Omar, a militant Islamic cleric who was flown from Milan to Egypt and reportedly tortured.

Mr Berlusconi's government denies knowledge of the affair, which became public after Milan magistrates issued arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents.

Italy Issues Warrants for CIA Operatives

By AIDAN LEWIS, Associated Press Writer

Italian authorities have issued arrest warrants for three more purported CIA operatives accused of helping abduct an Egyptian Muslim cleric from Italy in 2003, a prosecutor said Friday.

Milan Prosecutor Armando Spataro told The Associated Press the new warrants were approved by Milan Judge Chiara Nobile [..] and bring the total number of purported CIA operatives sought by Italian police in the case to 22.

Earlier this year, authorities ordered the arrest of 19 people alleged to have helped kidnap cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar.

Nasr was allegedly abducted on a Milan street on Feb. 17, 2003 before being flown to Egypt, where he was reportedly tortured.

Prosecutors claimed Nasr's abduction a serious violation of Italian sovereignty and said it hindered Italian terrorism investigations.

The Italian government said it had no prior knowledge of the operation, and the case caused a major strain in Italian-U.S. relations.

The operation was purportedly part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program in which terrorism suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, subjecting them to possible ill treatment.

U.S. officials have declined to comment on the case and the U.S. embassy in Rome repeated that position Friday. [..]

Spataro [..] declined to discuss details of the new arrest warrants, but Italian newspapers La Stampa and Corriere della Sera said that one of those sought had been listed as a senior official in the U.S. embassy in Rome.

The reports said that suspect helped transfer Nasr from Milan to the U.S.-Italian air base of Aviano. From Aviano, Nasr was allegedly flown first to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, then to Egypt.

They said all three suspects held U.S. passports. [..]