By Paolo Biondani and Guido Olimpio

November 11, 2005

Original Article (English)

A Graphic from Corriere Della Sera, With CIA Photograph of Abu Omar, at the Location Where He Was Abducted Almost Exactly a Month Later.

The date is January 14, 2003. A man with a long beard wearing a light-colored djellaba [a long loose garment with long sleeves and a hood ] is walking in the street next to the pavement. The man is Abu Omar, a Muslim fundamentalist and former imam of a mosque on Milan's Via Quaranta [Quaranta St.], and is suspected of involvement in terrorist activities. The Egyptian doesn't realize that he is being tailed by a CIA unit. Agents photographed him outside a medical centre, at precisely the spot where he would be abducted by another CIA unit on February 17.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Armando Spataro

—Interview With Armando Spatero

The photograph, crucial to investigators, was found by DIGOS [Italy's political crime unit] special branch investigators on the computer used by Robert Seldon Lady, the CIA's Milan station chief until 2003, and now accused by legal officials of organizing Abu OmarÌs abduction. The image had been deleted from the computerÌs memory, but using techniques employed in the struggle against terrorism, police have recovered it, adding another piece to the puzzle of the investigation, which is coordinated by Deputy Public Prosecutor Armando Spataro. —Interview With Spatero

ARREST WARRANTS ISSUED FOR CIA AGENTS

Investigations over recent months have led to the issuance of European warrants for the arrest of 22 CIA agents. Those involved include the women who monitored the abduction area and drove the van that took Abu Omar from Milan to the American air base at Aviano. The men of the Special Removal Unit who carry out these operations are wanted. Also sought are the agents who reconnoitered and provided cover for the operation. The abduction was a complicated affair. The imam was flown in a special aircraft from Aviano to the American air base at Ramstein in Germany, and from there in another jet to Cairo, where he was thrown into a special prison. In prison, he was interrogated ruthlessly and subjected to physical and psychological violence. Almost a year later, the Egyptians released Abu Omar, who told his family what had happened. These disclosures cost him another trip to jail, where he remains to this day, but they also signaled the first big step forward in Italian investigation.

THE INQUIRY

Justice Minister Castelli Faces U.S. Pressure

Now, the inquiry has taken a further step forward. Deputy Prosecutor General Donatella Grieco has ordered that a request for the extradition of 22 individuals sought for questioning, signed by counter-terror prosecutors Spataro and Ferdinando Enrico Pomarici, be forwarded to the Ministry of Justice. The request will go to Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, who has been asked to forward the request to American legal authorities. In theory, the legal code allows the Justice Minister the option of Ïrefusing or delayingÓ the request, which would have great political ramifications. It's interesting to note that Castelli has just returned from Washington, where he went Ïto meet the American Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales.Ó During their talks, the two discussed Ïseveral letters requesting informationÓ and Ïextradition cases.Ó Italian sources refused to release any details of the discussions, but it is thought likely that the Calipari case [the Italian journalist who was fired upon by U.S. troops in Iraq] and perhaps also the Abu Omar abduction were on the agenda.

WASHINGTONÌS CLOAK OF CONFIDENTIALITY

Washington has always maintained maximum confidentiality on the Abu Omar case, but according to unconfirmed reports, the United States may put pressure on Rome to block the extradition requests. The CIA is going through a difficult period. Controversy over Iraq, revelations about its network of secret prisons, and clashes over the methods that administration hawks want to see used in the war on terror have all contributed to the unpleasant atmosphere. And 007 [CIA agents] are unwilling to take the blame for others.