Update: Former Italy Spy Boss Wants Rice Testimony in Abduction Case

By Jeff Stein | September 24, 2008 5:22 PM | | Comments (2)

Italy's former spy chief, on trial for participating with the CIA in the abduction of a Muslim cleric, says he wants Condoleezza Rice to testify in the case.

Niccolo Pollari, former head of the Italian military intelligence service SISMI, and eight other Italians participated in the 2003 "extraordinary rendition" of an al Qaeda suspect known as Abu Omar, prosecutors allege. They say Pollari worked with U.S. agents to snatch Omar, whose real name is Hassan Mustafa Omar Nasr, off a Milan street and whisk him to Egypt for interrogation.

Pollari says he wants Rice, the current U.S. secretary of state and U.S. national security adviser in 2003, to testify for him as a defense witness, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.
Rice green-lighted the "black op" to snatch Abu Omar, according to a March 2007 story by a freelance reporter working on a book about the case.  The State Department did not respond to a query on the matter. 

The U.S. Department of Justice has ignored requests from Italian authorities for documents related to the trial-in-absentia of 26 Americans, all but one CIA agents, on charges of kidnapping Omar, SpyTalk reported on Monday, Sept. 22.
Omar, who is now free and remains in Egypt, claims he was tortured and has shown visiting journalists extensive scars on his body.
The Italian prosecutor trying the case, Armando Spataro, has repeatedly asked the Justice Department for information on, and to serve summons on, the charged Americans.

But every request has been denied, according to Italian law enforcement sources.

The prosecutor has also faced resistance from his own government. 

The Italian Ministry of Justice has refused to forward requests for extradition of the Americans to stand trial.  

In Oct. 2006, Italy's then Minister of Justice, Clemente Mastella, came to Washington for a hush-hush meeting with Rice to discus the case, SpyTalk has also reported. 

Some observers say Polari had nothing to do with the operation. As for the value of Rice's testimony, at best she would say the U.S. wanted to kidnap Omar, one said.

The U.S. Justice Department's refusal to cooperate has no practical effect on the prosecution of the case, Italian authorities say, which is going forward.

To cooperate with the Italians would be to acknowledge that the CIA had anything to do with the kidnapping, which has been documented by witnesses as well as materials that police discovered in the home of the former CIA representative in Milan, says Matthew Cole, a New York freelance writer working on a book about the case. 

"By making anyone available for questioning, the Justice Department would be acknowledging CIA involvement," Cole said by telephone Monday. "They can't do that and deny their involvement." 

The Justice Department had no comment in response to a query last week.

The CIA has repeatedly refused to comment publicly on the case. 

Tags: Abu Omar, Armando Spataro, CIA, Condoleezza Rice, Egypt, extraordinary rendition, Hassan Mustafa Omar Nasr, Italy, Justice Department, kidnapping, Milan, Niccolo Pollari, SISMI

    Comments

  1. Have the photos of Abu Omar's injuries been published anywhere online?

    Posted by: djonan Author Profile Page | September 27, 2008 10:10 PM

  2. Good question. The most complete description of Abu Omar's injuries comes in a piece by author Peter Bergen, who interviewed him in Egypt for a piece in Mother Jones magazine (http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/03/exclusive-i-was-kidnapped-by-the-cia.html). I'm not sure the online version has pictures, however. -js

    Posted by: Jeff Stein Author Profile Page | October 6, 2008 1:28 PM

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