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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 10th,
2007 - The CIA in the Dock |
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Milan’s Extraordinary Renditions Case By Georg Mascolo & Matthias Gebauer Spiegel magazine January 10, 2007 A Milan prosecutor is making
the CIA nervous. Despite the opposition of his own government he wants to
indict 26 US agents and five Italian secret agents for the kidnapping of a
terror suspect. Rome and Washington would prefer that the embarrassing trial
would just go away. The proceedings in Milan's
historic Palace of Justice on Tuesday morning were kept under tight wraps.
Judge Caterina Interlandi was holding court on the seventh floor, behind
closed doors - and only lawyers directly involved with the case were allowed
to enter. The governments in Rome and Washington would have preferred if the
hearing had not taken place at all. However they had not
reckoned with Armando Spataro. Without the lively Milan prosecutor, who is
balding and has a moustache, things would never have got quite so far. The case being heard behind
the court's doors could turn out to be highly unpleasant for Washington and
Rome. Judge Interlandi must determine whether 26 CIA agents and five Italian
secret service agents are to be indicted for one of the boldest kidnappings
of a terror suspect to happen yet. If the court takes the case, it would be
the first time anyone has been tried in connection with the CIA's
controversial "extraordinary renditions" program. Under the secret
renditions program, suspected terrorists were kidnapped and interrogated at
secret "black" sites. There was no immediate
result after the hearing on Tuesday, except the announcement that the case
was adjourned until the end of January. The statements afterwards
were nevertheless revealing. For example, Daria Pesce, the lawyer
representing former Milan CIA bureau chief Robert Seldon Lady said she was
withdrawing from the case. "Robert Seldon Lady said that a political and
not legal solution should be found." Her client, she said, would prefer
"an agreement between Italy and the US" to a trial. Pesce described her client
as "disappointed" by the Italian officers because they revealed
details of the operation they had sworn to keep secret. "He feels
betrayed because he is still convinced he did the right thing for the US and
all the other countries fighting international Islamism," she said. Via Ramstein to an Egyptian torture jail Lady's position is
understandable, because the case is an embarrassment. The fate of the
Egyptian imam Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, better known as Abu Omar, is one of
the best-documented cases of the controversial abductions by the US. In
February 2003, a CIA team kidnapped the radical cleric in Milan as he was on
his way to his mosque. From the point of view of the US investigators Abu
Omar was a suspect who could have knowledge of the activities of jihadists in
Europe - perhaps. In these kinds of
situations, things are rarely done gently. Drugged and tied-up, Abu Omar was
bundled into a white mini-van and taken to the US base at Aviano, and then by
jet via the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany more or less directly to an
Egyptian jail. During his weeks of interrogation there, Abu Omar claims to
have been tortured by the local officials. In a letter that was smuggled out
of the jail, he reports of electrical shocks and writes that his face has
been disfigured by these methods. He is being held in a jail in Alexandria to
this day. It is now known that in the
fight against international terror following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks this
was common CIA practice - something the US has indirectly admitted, without
expressing any regret. Instead of waiting for the necessary due process, the
agency preferred to kidnap those it had decided were suspects. Instead of
placing them in US jails they were stuck in holes somewhere in countries that
were known for torture and therefore speedy interrogation results. It is
precisely these practices that are now the subject of several investigations
in EU countries. Frequent flyer miles on the secret mission During their tough actions
the bosses back home in the US probably never expected that they would ever
have someone like prosecutor Spatoro spying on them in turn. He has
impressive evidence in dozens of files. He knows the names of the CIA agents.
He knows when and where they travelled to Italy, who they called and when, in
order to kidnap Abu Omar. Even their fondness for luxury hotels is in the
files - and that they collected valuable frequent flyer miles. There is no
point talking about a secret operation any more. No other case has caused so
much internal disquiet in the CIA as the arrest warrants from Italy. Even if
the White House has promised that there is no need to fear prosecution or
extradition, there is concern in the agency about what will happen after
President Bush leaves office. The Democrats now control Congress and hearings
about the CIA program are looming. Legal insurance has been the hot topic
among CIA agents for months. The agents are aware that the small fry are
always the first to be sacrificed. In the case of the
kidnapping in Italy, this concern is well founded. After all it is the names
of the CIA worker ants that appear in the indictments. Due to Spataro's
tireless efforts they will also be issued arrest warrants in the European
Union. From now on the agents will have to worry about possible arrest during
any future foreign visit - even if one of them just wants to visit Florence
instead of Florida with his wife. However the Italian Foreign Ministry never
sent the prosecutor's extradition warrant - out of loyalty to its partner,
the US. “One day we will all be in court” The dark prediction of Cofer
Black, the CIA's former head of counter-terrorism, is being remembered in
corridors of the agency these days: "One day we will all be in court for
what we are doing now." At the same time, the agents of what is
supposedly the best secret service in the world didn't act particularly
clandestinely in Milan. Many now shake their head in disbelief that it only
takes a few Google searches to find the first traces of the CIA's aircraft.
The term "secret flights" is long obsolete. Even the agents were not
much of a secret. Of the first 13 suspects public prosecutor Spataro was able
to identify, 11 were easily traced back to the CIA. The insurance numbers and
post office boxes they kept in Virginia revealed more than they hid. And even though it is now
clear that the CIA acted carelessly in Italy, the fact that high-level agents
in Rome gave their nod of approval to the operation has only served to
increase anger over their negligence. "It's not only bad tradecraft, but
it's stupid," commented Richard Stolz, a former CIA deputy director of
operations. Even for the renditions
program, the action in Italy was highly unusual - and also particularly
risky. In most operations, countries arrested suspected terrorists and then
turned them over to the United States. But in Italy, the CIA chief in Rome
was looking to achieve his own success, and insiders believe that goes a long
way towards explaining why the CIA there played a direct role in the
kidnapping. "If I had taken a plan to my bosses to kidnap someone in
Europe, it better have been Osama himself, and I doubt I would have gotten
permission even then," said Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA
program. Threats against Berlusconi and Romano Prodi There's more to the Milan
case than simply a suit against CIA agents (who wouldn't even be present in
the Milan Palace of Justice if it were to be heard). Instead, it is the
Italian secret service and the former government of Silvio Berlusconi who
will be placed in the political dock. Berlusconi routinely swears that Italy
never would have permitted or provided help for any operation like this. But
few believe him these days. In fact, it appears unlikely that the operation
would even have been possible without logistical aid from the US's close
partner. The most extensive testimony
could come from a former Italian agent who also now stands as a defendant.
For months, former Italian top spy Nicolo Pollari refused to testify. Now he
is threatening what could be an almost "spontaneous defense." But
his lawyer says he would only be willing to do so if Berlusconi and the
current prime minister, Romano Prodi, also appeared in court. For the time
being, the main issue is to lift the veil of secrecy that had initially been
imposed on the Abu Omar case. Still, uncomfortable questions would likely be
directed at the top politicians. It's still impossible to
tell if the Milan trial will even open. Nevertheless, through sheer
persistence, Prosecutor Spataro has already cut his way through considerable
political resistance. At the end of the day, the decision will lie with the
judge, who is under enormous pressure. So far, the judge has held up well
under pressure - so much so that German Prosecutor Eberhard Bayer has
described his colleague's work as "excellent." Bayer has often met
with Spataro and spoken to him on the telephone because he is currently
investigating CIA planes that landed in Germany and were involved in Abu
Omar's kidnapping. “If a crime is a political one, it still remains a crime” However, it is unlikely that
Bayer's case will ever progress as far as the Milan investigation.
"We've hit a dead end because the Americans aren't providing us with any
information," Bayer said. But Bayer does know that Abu Omar was taken to
Egypt on a flight that also landed at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany,
which is also under his prosecutorial jurisdiction. Each time he contacts the
base, authorities tell him politely but firmly that Washington has instructed
them to provide no information whatsoever. "To be honest, we're at our
wits end," Bayer said. But prosecutors in Germany
are following the progress in Milan with great interest. Privately, they hope
the trial will open - almost more because of the hard work of their colleague
than because of their hopes for a public tribunal against the CIA. "Of course it's true
that we're dealing with big political issues here," says Bayer,
deliberately speaking in abstract terms. "But even if a crime is a
political one, it still remains a crime." © Spiegel Online 2007 External link: http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458821,00.html |