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Italy Orders Arrest of 'CIA Operatives' for Kidnapping
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(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=E035E6:3919ACA

Arrest warrants issued for US citizens, reportedly linked to CIA on
charges of kidnapping radical Muslim cleric from Milan to Egypt, where
victim said he was tortured





Muslims pray on the sidewalk next to the Islamic center of Milan
Italian authorities say they have ordered the arrest of 13 U.S.
citizens linked to the Central Intelligence Agency, on charges of
kidnapping a radical Muslim cleric from Milan to Egypt, where the
victim said he was tortured.

No arrests have been made, and full details of the case have not yet
been released. Government officials in Milan, Rome and Washington all
have refused to discuss the investigation, which was made public
Friday.

Investigators say they have proof that the kidnapped man, a Muslim
cleric known as Abu Omar, was snatched from a street in Milan in
February 2003 and taken to a nearby U.S. airbase at Aviano.

The missing man, whose full name is Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, has
been linked to the al-Qaida terror network. He contacted friends and
his wife more than a year later from Egypt to say he had been
subjected to months of violent and brutal treatment. He apparently was
rearrested a short time later, and has not been heard from since.

Italian news reports say Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr is wanted on
terrorism charges. He is described as a fighter for Islamic causes in
Afghanistan and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.


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