ROME: The lawyer for an Egyptian cleric allegedly kidnapped by the CIA in Milan in 2003 said his client, now in a Cairo prison, wants to return to Italy and sue the former government of Silvio Berlusconi, according to a newspaper interview published Friday.
Earlier this week, the head of a European investigation into allegations that the CIA held terror suspects at secret prisons in Europe alleged that Berlusconi s conservative government, which was closely allied with the United States, played an important role in the abduction of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, a terror suspect also known as Abu Omar.
Abu Omar wants to return to Italy, he considers himself an Italian, Montasser Al-Zayat, a lawyer known for defending Islamic extremists, was quoted as saying in Turin daily La Stampa.
And [my client wants to] denounce the Berlusconi government, co-responsible for his kidnapping, to obtain compensation, the lawyer was quoted as saying in an interview from his Cairo office.
While in power, Berlusconi s government denied having any involvement in the kidnapping of the cleric, who was allegedly snatched from a Milan street as he walked between his home and a mosque where he preached. Nasr is being held in isolation in Cairo s Tora prison under Egyptian security laws, the lawyer said, according to the newspaper report.
Asked if the cleric was being tortured, Al-Zayat reportedly replied, For the moment, no. But La Stampa reported that the lawyer said Nasr was tortured several times shortly after he was taken to Egypt in 2003, while he was held in an intelligence services building for seven months.
In Italy, Nasr risks arrest as a terror suspect, and when asked why his client wanted to return to Italy, his lawyer said: He believes in his innocence. He has faith in the Italian prosecutors, he knows that in Milan he would receive a fair trial.
A report last week for the Council of Europe contended that 14 European nations, including Italy, colluded with the U.S. intelligence agency.
Nasr s abduction was believed to be part of the CIA s extraordinary rendition strategy to spirit terrorism suspects to third countries where some allegedly are subject to torture.
Prosecutors in Milan have said that Nasr was taken by the CIA to a joint U.S.-Italian air base, flown to Germany and then to Egypt.
The prosecutors have accused 22 purported CIA agents in the case, and are seeking their extradition.
The Berlusconi government, which was defeated by Romano Prodi and his center-left forces in parliamentary elections in April, decided against forwarding the extradition request to Washington, but the prosecutors have said they will renew their request to the new government. AP
