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Italy: CIA kidnaps Imam and hands him over to Egypt

01 January 2005

The Milan prosecutors’ office is investigating the kidnapping in Milan on 17 February 2003 of Nasr Osama (aka Abu Omar), a 42-year-old Egyptian Imam who was under investigation, suspected of being a member of an Al Qaida cell. Prosecutors have uncovered evidence pointing to CIA involvement in the operation, including documents used to hire a vehicle that was used in the kidnapping. They were aided by the lack of discretion with which the operation was apparently conducted, including the use of ordinary mobile phones to communicate. The prosecutors’ reconstruction suggests that the operation may be part of the CIA undercover operation “Rendition” (involving the capture of terrorist suspects abroad and their handing over to countries where torture is practised for questioning), which has also resulted in criminal investigations for similar incidents in Sweden and Germany. In Milan, Abu Omar was bundled into a van after he was sprayed in the face on his way to a mosque. He was then transferred to the US airbase in Aviano (Pordenone, north-east Italy) and flown out before being handed over to Egyptian security forces. Abu Omar alleged that he had been tortured in Egypt in a phone call that he made to his wife from an Egyptian prison in April 2004.

Corriere della Sera 25.2.05; El País 14.3.05