CAIRO/MILAN: Despite alleged travel bans and trouble with state security, cleric Abu Omar s family arrived in Milan on Tuesday to attend the trial of 26 US CIA agents tried in absentia accused of kidnapping him.
“We have had issues with state security lately. But they finally let my wife and son leave Egypt on Monday night and they arrived safely in Milan today, Abu Omar told The Daily Star Egypt in a phone interview yesterday.
Following the opening of the trial on June 8, Abu Omar’s wife Nabila Ghali and his son Mohamed Abdel Hakim were reportedly prevented by state security from boarding their plane to Milan on June 9 due to a security ban.
Both Ghali and Abdel Hakim are considered “injured parties in the case, providing them with the right to question witnesses during the trial.
While none of the accused American CIA agents are expected to show up in court, seven Italian secret service agents are reportedly due to participate.
Abu Omar, also known as Hassan Mustafa Nasr, told The Daily Star Egypt that while “he is delighted that his family will be able to attend the trial, he is unhappy about the travel ban currently imposed on him by state security.
“It is very hard for me to travel. I can’t leave the country and I have to inform state security every time I go anywhere outside Alexandria, he complained.
Abu Omar was the victim of extraordinary rendition when he was snatched off the street by CIA agents in broad daylight while en route to his Milan mosque in 2003.
The cleric was transferred to his home country Egypt via Germany on suspicion of terrorism, where he was allegedly subject to repeated torture and abuse.
Following a three-year legal rollercoaster resulting in his arrest, release, re-arrest, and even disappearance an unknown number of times, Abu Omar was finally released in February 2007, causing a major media ruckus.
Now his kidnappers as well as the controversial US policy itself are on trial.
According to Italian news agencies, judge Oscar Magi rejected last week requests made by the lawyers of two accused former Italian secret service secret agents to hold the trial behind closed doors.
Magi reportedly denied the requests stating that “there is sufficient security at the trial and that there is no need to exclude the press and the public.
At the next hearing, judge Magi will rule on a defense request to suspend the trial.
