http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1224terror-cia24.html

European arrest warrants issued for 22 CIA operatives

Los Angeles Times Dec. 24, 2005 12:00 AM

ROME - An Italian court has issued European arrest warrants for 22 CIA operatives accused of kidnapping a radical imam in Milan, a prosecutor said Friday.

The abduction is one of several cases causing a furor in Europe in which U.S. agencies are suspected of using European soil and airspace to imprison or to transport terrorist suspects to third countries without judicial authorization.

In the Italian case, the 22 CIA operatives are accused of snatching Hassan Osama Nasr as he walked to a mosque in Milan nearly three years ago. He was taken to his native Egypt, where he was imprisoned and tortured, he later told friends.

Italian prosecutors have been trying to bring the operatives to trial since June, when they first obtained arrest warrants for some of the suspects. Those warrants, however, covered only Italy. Lead prosecutor Armando Spataro said Friday that a court earlier this week issued the European arrest warrants, which means that the suspects can now be arrested in any of the European Union's 25 member states.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has made it clear that he does not want the case to advance.

The matter has been embarrassing for Berlusconi, who supports Bush administration policies but has had to publicly deny Italian involvement in the abduction, even as CIA officers in the U.S. said that they were acting with Italian permission.

Berlusconi said that although he did not believe the CIA had kidnapped Abu Omar, he thought such an operation was justifiable.

"You can't tackle terrorism with a law book in your hand," Berlusconi said.