Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr: Difference between revisions
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{subpages}} | {{subpages}} | ||
'''Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr''' is an [[Egypt]]ian cleric, who was captured by [[American]] intelligence officials while he was living in [[Italy]]. | '''Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr''', also known as '''Abu Omar''', is an [[Egypt]]ian cleric, who was captured by [[American]] intelligence officials while he was living in [[Italy]]. He was interrogated at U.S. facilities, and then sent, by [[extraordinary rendition]], to [[Egypt]]. Egypt later released him. <ref name=Bbc20070212> | ||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6352717.stm | | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6352717.stm | ||
| title=Egypt releases 'rendition' cleric | | title=Egypt releases 'rendition' cleric | ||
| publisher= | | publisher=BBC News | ||
| date=Monday, 12 February 2007 | | date=Monday, 12 February 2007 | ||
| accessdate=2008-04-15 | | accessdate=2008-04-15 | ||
| quote= | | quote= | ||
}}</ref><ref name= | }}</ref> | ||
==Targeting and capture== | |||
Earlier, he was described as a CIA asset in [[Albania]].<ref name=ChicagoTribune20050703> | |||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url=http:// | | url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0507030272jul03,1,7388165.story?page=1&coll=chi-newsspecials-hed | ||
| title= | | title=Abducted imam aided CIA ally | ||
| publisher= | | publisher=Chicago Tribune | ||
| date= | | author=John Crewdson, Tom Hundley | ||
| date=July 3, 2005 | |||
| accessdate=2008-04-15 | | accessdate=2008-04-15 | ||
| quote= | | quote= | ||
}}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost20061206> | }}</ref> | ||
Nasr was captured in 2003, and, through [[extraordinary rendition]], sent to [[Egypt]], where he spent four years in captivity under that country's emergency laws. | |||
According to Italian anti-terrorism officials, the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] sent them a false report about his activities, to hide the fact that he already had been captured. ""The kidnapping of Abu Omar was not only a serious crime against Italian sovereignty and human rights, but it also seriously damaged counterterrorism efforts in Italy and Europe," according to Armando Spataro, the lead prosecutor in Milan. "In fact, if Abu Omar had not been kidnapped, he would now be in prison, subject to a regular trial, and we would have probably identified his other accomplices."<ref name=WashingtonPost20061206> | |||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/04/AR2005120400885.html | | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/04/AR2005120400885.html | ||
| Line 23: | Line 30: | ||
| page=A01 | | page=A01 | ||
| publisher=[[Washington Post]] | | publisher=[[Washington Post]] | ||
| author= | | author=Craig Whitlock | ||
| date=Tuesday, December 6, 2005 | | date=Tuesday, December 6, 2005 | ||
| accessdate=2008-04-15 | | accessdate=2008-04-15 | ||
| quote= | | quote= | ||
}}</ref><ref name=WashingtonPost20051206a> | }}</ref> The anti-terrorism police said that telephone calls from Nasr, April and May 2003, who was under house arrest in Egypt, warned family and "religious colleagues at a Milan mosque that his Egyptian interrogators wanted to abduct three other people as well, transcripts of the wiretaps show. He was taken back to prison shortly thereafter when Egyptian security officials discovered that he had been in contact with the people in Italy, according to court records." | ||
"Mohammed Reda, an Egyptian exile who lives in Milan, told Italian investigators that Nasr warned him on the phone that he was next on the Egyptian government's list of kidnapping targets." | |||
==Italian indictment of intelligence personnel== | |||
The prosecution is by an independent authority in Milan, and the Berlusconi government was not comfortable with it. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, a member of Berlusconi's cabinet, had not approved the Italian extradition requests.<ref name=WashingtonPost20051206a> | |||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2005/12/06/GR2005120600044.html | | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2005/12/06/GR2005120600044.html | ||
| Line 34: | Line 46: | ||
| date=Tuesday, December 6, 2005 | | date=Tuesday, December 6, 2005 | ||
| accessdate=2008-04-15 | | accessdate=2008-04-15 | ||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
The Italian government indicted 7 Italian and 25 American intelligence officials in 2007. They include Nicolo Pollari, former head of SISMI, the Italian military intelligence agency, and former station chief of CIA operations in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, who said he opposed the capture, <ref name=Bbc20070216> | |||
{{cite news | {{cite news | ||
| url=http:// | | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6368269.stm | ||
| title= | | title=Italy orders CIA kidnapping trial | ||
| publisher= | | publisher=BBC News | ||
| date=16 February 2007 | |||
| date= | |||
| accessdate=2008-04-15 | | accessdate=2008-04-15 | ||
| quote= | | quote= | ||
}}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
An Italian judge suspended the trial in 2007, awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court as whether wiretaps and other intelligence information was admissible at trial. <ref name=NYT2007-06-19>{{citation | |||
| date = June 19, 2007 | |||
| title = Kidnapping Trial of C.I.A. Agents Is Suspended by Judge in Italy | |||
| author = Elisabetta Povoedo | |||
| journal = New York Times | |||
| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/world/europe/19italy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print}}</ref> That higher court ruled, in 2009, that state secrecy had been violated, and rejected much of the evidence. <ref name=NYT2009-03-12>{{citation | |||
| url=http://www. | | date = March 12, 2009 | ||
| title= | | title = Italian Court Upends Trial Involving C.I.A. Links | ||
| | | author = Rachel Donadio | journal = New York Times | ||
| | | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/world/europe/12italy.html?pagewanted=print}}</ref> | ||
| | |||
}}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist|2}} | |||
Revision as of 18:26, 18 May 2009
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, is an Egyptian cleric, who was captured by American intelligence officials while he was living in Italy. He was interrogated at U.S. facilities, and then sent, by extraordinary rendition, to Egypt. Egypt later released him. [1]
Targeting and capture
Earlier, he was described as a CIA asset in Albania.[2]
Nasr was captured in 2003, and, through extraordinary rendition, sent to Egypt, where he spent four years in captivity under that country's emergency laws.
According to Italian anti-terrorism officials, the Central Intelligence Agency sent them a false report about his activities, to hide the fact that he already had been captured. ""The kidnapping of Abu Omar was not only a serious crime against Italian sovereignty and human rights, but it also seriously damaged counterterrorism efforts in Italy and Europe," according to Armando Spataro, the lead prosecutor in Milan. "In fact, if Abu Omar had not been kidnapped, he would now be in prison, subject to a regular trial, and we would have probably identified his other accomplices."[3] The anti-terrorism police said that telephone calls from Nasr, April and May 2003, who was under house arrest in Egypt, warned family and "religious colleagues at a Milan mosque that his Egyptian interrogators wanted to abduct three other people as well, transcripts of the wiretaps show. He was taken back to prison shortly thereafter when Egyptian security officials discovered that he had been in contact with the people in Italy, according to court records."
"Mohammed Reda, an Egyptian exile who lives in Milan, told Italian investigators that Nasr warned him on the phone that he was next on the Egyptian government's list of kidnapping targets."
Italian indictment of intelligence personnel
The prosecution is by an independent authority in Milan, and the Berlusconi government was not comfortable with it. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli, a member of Berlusconi's cabinet, had not approved the Italian extradition requests.[4]
The Italian government indicted 7 Italian and 25 American intelligence officials in 2007. They include Nicolo Pollari, former head of SISMI, the Italian military intelligence agency, and former station chief of CIA operations in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, who said he opposed the capture, [5]
An Italian judge suspended the trial in 2007, awaiting a decision by the Constitutional Court as whether wiretaps and other intelligence information was admissible at trial. [6] That higher court ruled, in 2009, that state secrecy had been violated, and rejected much of the evidence. [7]
References
- ↑ Egypt releases 'rendition' cleric, BBC News, Monday, 12 February 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ↑ John Crewdson, Tom Hundley. Abducted imam aided CIA ally, Chicago Tribune, July 3, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ↑ Craig Whitlock. CIA Ruse Is Said to Have Damaged Probe in Milan: Italy Allegedly Misled on Cleric's Abduction, Washington Post, Tuesday, December 6, 2005, p. A01. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ↑ A Cleric's Journey, Washington Post, Tuesday, December 6, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ↑ Italy orders CIA kidnapping trial, BBC News, 16 February 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-15.
- ↑ Elisabetta Povoedo (June 19, 2007), "Kidnapping Trial of C.I.A. Agents Is Suspended by Judge in Italy", New York Times
- ↑ Rachel Donadio (March 12, 2009), "Italian Court Upends Trial Involving C.I.A. Links", New York Times