ROME: A preliminary hearing implicating 25 CIA agents and a US army colonel in the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric opened Tuesday in Milan with none of the defendants present, the Ansa news agency reported.
Judge Caterina Interlandi is to decide whether the case, which also implicates the former head of Italy s military intelligence, should go to trial.
Defendant Bob Seldon Lady, the former CIA station chief in Milan, said through his lawyer on Tuesday that he did not recognize the Milan court.
My client thinks that the solution of this matter is political and does not recognize the judicial authority, Daria Pesce told Ansa.
Nicolo Pollari, the former head of military intelligence (Sismi) was fired because of his connection to the affair, which has strained relations between Rome and Washington.
He said through his lawyers that he would call Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi as witnesses if the case goes to trial, after a procedure that may take several months.
Both men cited state secrecy during the judicial investigation into the kidnapping of Osama Mustafa Hassan, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street in February 2003.
He was snatched by a CIA commando unit with help from Italian agents, prosecutors charge. Abu Omar was reportedly taken to his native Egypt where he claims he was tortured under suspicion of having terrorist links.
Five other Italians are also accused in the kidnapping, including Sismi number two Marco Mancini.
Two other Sismi employees and right-wing journalist Renato Farina, deputy director of the Libero daily, are accused of complicity in the affair.
Roberto Castelli, who was justice minister under Berlusconi, refused to transmit a request for the extradition of the 26 US citizens named in the Abu Omar case to Washington.
The new justice minister, Clemente Mastella, has so far not acted on a similar request, but the Sky TG 24 news channel reported that he is expected to decide on the matter by the end of the month.
The 26 Americans are already the subject of a Europe-wide arrest warrant.
