Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Italians Pissed Over CIA Lies

WashPost: In March 03, the Italian natl anti-terrorism police received an urgent message from the CIA about a radical Islamic cleric who had mysteriously vanished from Milan a few wks before. The CIA reported that it had reliable info that the cleric, the target of an Ital. criminal investigation, had fled to an unknown location in the Balkans. In fact, according to Ital. crt documents and interviews w/ investigators, the CIA's tip was a deliberate lie, part of a ruse designed to stymie efforts by the Ital. anti-terrorism police to track down the cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, an Egyptian refugee known as Abu Omar. A review of recently filed crt documents and interviews offer fresh details about how the CIA allegedly spread disinfo to cover its tracks and how its actions in Milan disrupted and damaged a major Ital. investigation. Said Armando Spataro, the lead prosecutor in Milan: "The kidnapping of Abu Omar was not only a serious crime against Ital. sovereignty and human rights, but it also seriously damaged counterterrorism efforts in Italy and EU. 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." The CIA lied to 1 of our "coalition of the willing" members? That is sooo helpful to fighting terrorism and global reputation, eh?
Posted by Tina :: 12:09 AM :: 0 Comments:

Post a Comment

---------------------------------------