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November 5, 2009

Italian Court Convicts CIA Operatives for ’03 Kidnapping
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An Italian judge has convicted twenty-three Americans, mostly CIA
operatives, for kidnapping a Muslim cleric from the streets of Milan in
2003. The Americans were all tried in absentia after the United States
refused to hand them over. The convictions turn the CIA agents into
international fugitives who risk arrest abroad. The case marks the first
time any American has been convicted for taking part in a so-called
“extraordinary rendition.” It centers around the Egyptian cleric Abu
Omar, who was taken to US bases in Italy and Germany before being sent
to Egypt, where he was tortured during a four-year imprisonment.



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