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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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April 16th,
2008 - Defense Requests Berlusconi Testimony in CIA Kidnap Case |
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Defense Requests Berlusconi Testimony
in CIA Kidnap Case By Marta Falconi Associated Press April 16, 2008 Rome - Lawyers for a former
Italian intelligence chief requested Wednesday that Premier-elect Silvio
Berlusconi testify in the trial of 26 American and Italian suspects charged
with kidnapping a terror suspect during a CIA operation. Nicolo Pollari's defense
also requested outgoing Premier Romano Prodi as a witness, said lawyer
Alessia Sorgato, who represents some of the American defendants. Berlusconi, who won Italy's
national elections Monday, is considered a key witness because he was premier
when Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr disappeared in February 2003. Italian prosecutors say
Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was abducted on a Milan street as part of the
CIA's program of extraordinary renditions - moving terror suspects from
country to country without public legal proceedings. The CIA has declined to
comment on the case. Berlusconi's testimony in
the Milan trial is being requested partly to prove that Pollari was against
the rendition, Sorgato said. Also among the requested witnesses are the
defense ministers and undersecretaries in both Berlusconi's 2001-06
government and Prodi's 2006-08 government. Judge Oscar Magi will decide
May 14 on whether to allow the testimony of Prodi, Berlusconi and the other
officials. Pollari could face from one to 10 years in jail on a kidnapping
charge. Italian prosecutors say the
cleric was transferred to U.S. bases in Italy and Germany before being moved
to Egypt, where he was imprisoned for four years. Nasr, who was released last
year, said he was tortured. All but one American suspect
in the case have been identified by prosecutors as CIA agents. Seven
Italians, including Pollari, were indicted in the case. Pollari has denied any
involvement by Italian intelligence in the abduction, and Berlusconi has
publicly supported his military secret services chief. The Americans are being
tried in absentia, and their Italian lawyers are all court-appointed, having
had no direct contact with their clients. Prosecutors have repeatedly
pressed Rome to request their extradition. Berlusconi's previous government
refused the request, while Prodi's government never responded. A senior U.S. official has
said they would not be turned over for prosecution, even if Rome requests it. Copyright © 2008 The
Associated Press. External link: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_UjHVOokrNOfT4KeJ9TkKd4CTNAD9033KH80 |