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| Europe |
| CIA rendition case. |
| 2010-12-27 |
| [Der Spiegel] The CIA rendition of cleric Abu Omar in 2003 turned into a headache for Washington when a Milan court indicted the agents involved. Secret dispatches now show how the US threatened the Italian government in an attempt to influence the case. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was apparently happy to help. In 2007, a court in Milan started trying several CIA agents in absentia for their roles in the 2003 kidnapping of Abu Omar, an Egyptian cleric who had been living in the northern Italian city. When the indictments first came down, the US government tried to intervene -- first in Milan and then in Rome -- so as to influence the investigations of the public prosecutor's office. At first, the efforts were conducted via diplomatic channels. But, later, they also took place during top-level talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. American diplomats and even the US secretary of defense were assured that the Italian government "was working hard to resolve the situation." And they also got to hear Berlusconi vent his rage at his own country's judicial system. These anecdotes come from secret dispatches from the US Embassy in Rome, and they are particularly embarrassing for Berlusconi, who recently survived a confidence vote in parliament. The documents provide detailed descriptions of how both the American ambassador and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates exerted direct pressure on the Italian government in Rome. In particular, they wanted to make sure that Rome would use its influence to make sure that no international arrest warrants were issued for the CIA agents accused of being involved in Abu Omar's abduction. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #5 Exactly, Moose. Attack the vector, kill the disease. |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-12-27 14:21 |
| #4 For them, I think the protocol is extreme public humiliation, resulting in dismissal. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-12-27 13:37 |
| #3 Anonymouse - also accidents for the enemy parties in the public prosecutor's office. |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2010-12-27 09:28 |
| #2 In retrospect, imagine how very different, and unimportant, this story would have been if in a local Italian paper, there was a brief obituary for Abu Omar, who had died after slipping on a puddle of water and falling off a five story balcony. Three times. Had accidents suddenly become the leading cause of death for radical Imams around the world, at the very start of the WoT, by now Muslim pulpits around the world would be quite tame. While clerics are enthusiastic about sending others to painful death, they personally don't want to experience it. So next time, CIA, do it right. And if your wishy-washy civilian leaders don't understand, then go black and do it without them. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-12-27 08:27 |
| #1 Apologies, please correct the careless spelling of rendition. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-12-27 08:15 |