ROME — In a case threatening to explode into a diplomatic row, the Italian government denied Thursday that it had authorized or even known about an operation in which CIA agents allegedly kidnapped a radical Egyptian cleric from Milan and flew him to Egypt for interrogation and torture.
Italy's denial was at odds with assertions by former CIA officials that the agency had obtained the consent of the Italian intelligence service before dispatching a CIA paramilitary team to abduct the cleric.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday summoned the U.S. ambassador to his palace for an explanation of U.S. actions in the 2-year-old incident.
The case gained attention last week when a judge in Milan issued arrest warrants for 13 American intelligence operatives on kidnapping charges. According to court documents, they were part of a 19-member team under the CIA lead officer in Milan that in February 2003 followed and then seized Hassan Osama Nasr, whom Italian investigators suspected of heading a terrorist network.
Italian prosecutors say the agents shoved Nasr, better known as Abu Omar, into a minivan and drove him four or five hours to the U.S.-Italian Aviano Air Base, where he was put aboard a jet and flown to Egypt, with a stopover at a U.S. base in Germany.
After Abu Omar was released in early 2004, he said he had been dumped into an Egyptian jail, where he was tortured and beaten during the interrogations. He has since disappeared again and is reportedly back in an Egyptian prison.
The action by the Milan judiciary marks the first time an ally of the United States has attempted to arrest and prosecute American spies in connection with what appears to have been an "extraordinary rendition," the CIA practice of seizing suspected terrorists and transporting them to third countries without judicial permission.
The lead prosecutor in Milan, Armando Spataro, has said he plans to seek extradition of the Americans named in the warrants. Italian authorities also asked Interpol for help in arresting the 10 men and three women.
Italian law enforcement officials have said they were outraged by the abduction because it ruined the case they were building against Abu Omar. Five of his associates are now on trial in Milan on terrorism charges. Opposition politicians have contended that allowing the CIA to conduct an operation of questionable legality was a violation of national sovereignty.
