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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 30th,
2009 - US Spy in Rendition Trial: ‘I Followed Orders’ |
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US Spy in Rendition
Trial: ‘I Followed Orders’ By Ariel David Associated Press June 30, 2009 Rome - A former CIA agent on
trial for the alleged kidnapping of a Muslim cleric and terror suspect in
Milan acknowledged in an interview published Tuesday that he had a role in
the operation but insisted he was only following orders. Italy's Il Giornale daily
published a rare interview with Robert Seldon Lady, the CIA Milan station
chief at the time of the 2003 disappearance of Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa
Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a street in the northern city. "I am not guilty. I am
only responsible for following an order I received from my superiors,"
Lady was quoted as saying by Il Giornale. "It was not a criminal act. It
was a state affair." Lady and 25 other Americans,
all but one identified as CIA agents by Italian prosecutors, are being tried
in absentia in Milan charged with kidnapping Nasr as part of the agency's
extraordinary rendition program of transferring suspects overseas for
interrogation. It is the first trial in any country involving the CIA
program. Prosecutors say Nasr was
transported in a van to a joint U.S.-Italian base in northern Italy, flown to
a U.S. air base in Germany and onward to Egypt where he said he was tortured.
Nasr has since been released without charge. The CIA has declined to
comment on the case. Five Italian intelligence
officers also are on trial accused of taking part in the joint operation with
the Americans. The Italian government has denied any involvement, and all
defendants, or their lawyers, have denied the charges. However, in Tuesday's
interview, Lady appeared to acknowledged the kidnapping, though he sought to
play down his role. "I was not on the spot
and I didn't organize the thing, the rendition, the arrest, the kidnapping,
whatever we want to call it," he was quoted as saying. "Milan is a
small station, I was not a big cheese. It happened in my jurisdiction but it
was absolutely not under my control." Il Giornale, which is owned
by the brother of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, said Lady spoke by
telephone from an undisclosed location. Daria Pesce, a former lawyer
for the American, said she had not read the article, but expressed surprise
and skepticism over the interview, saying that CIA rules would normally bar
employees, even retired ones like Lady, from talking to the media. Pesce withdrew from the case
as the trial started, and Lady has since been defended by a court-appointed
lawyer. Lady was still in Italy when
the case broke, and his villa in the Asti wine region was searched by police. In the interview he said he
was disappointed that the Italians had gone ahead with the prosecution and
was sorry he could not return to a country he loves and had hoped to live in
for the rest of his life. "I find consolation in
reminding myself that I was a soldier, that I was at war with terrorism, and
that I could not discuss the orders I received," he was quoted as
saying. He defended the use of
illegal methods in covert operations. "I have worked in intelligence
for 25 years, and almost none of my activities in these 25 years were legal
in the country in which I was carrying them out," he was quoted as
saying. Lady also addressed reported
mistakes in the Nasr operation, including cell phone traces and other
evidence that the spies left behind, allowing Italian police to piece
together what had happened. "There is no possible
excuse, too many mistakes were made," he said. "I don't really know
how it could have been possible because I didn't organize the thing." Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iM_YyWi9inE9T_InTSAg1w3qlraAD9955R000 |