US 'will not' hand over CIA agents to Italy
US 'will not' hand over CIA agents to Italy
By Sarah Laitner in Brussels
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: March 1 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 1 2007 02:00
Washington would refuse any demand by Rome to give up alleged Central Intelligence Agency operatives to face criminal trial on charges the agency abducted terrorism suspects, a leading US official said.
John Bellinger, legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said in Brussels: "We have not gotten that extradition request from Italy. If we got an extradition request from Italy, we would not extradite US officials to Italy."
An Italian judge last month ordered 25 alleged CIA operatives and the former head of Italy's military intelligence service to go on trial on charges of kidnapping an Egyptian imam in Milan in 2003 and taking him to Egypt for interrogation.
Mr Bellinger, who was in Brussels to meet European legal advisers, is the first senior US official to say publicly that CIA agents would not be sent for trial abroad.
The US faces continued criticism from Europe over its contentious practice of kidnapping terrorist suspects on foreign soil after the September 11 attacks. In January, prosecutors in Germany issued arrest warrants for 13 alleged CIA operatives in connection with allegations a German citizen was abducted and then detained in a secret Afghan prison.
Last month the European parliament accused some European Union governments of turning a blind eye to the illegal transport of alleged terrorists through their countries to face possible torture. It said the UK, Germany, Poland and other member states allowed CIA flights to stop over without proper controls.
Mr Bellinger branded that study "unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair". "I do think that these continuing investigations can harm intelligence co-operation," he said.
Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister, is unwilling to agree to demands to seek extradition of the Americans.
By Sarah Laitner in Brussels
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: March 1 2007 02:00 | Last updated: March 1 2007 02:00
Washington would refuse any demand by Rome to give up alleged Central Intelligence Agency operatives to face criminal trial on charges the agency abducted terrorism suspects, a leading US official said.
John Bellinger, legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said in Brussels: "We have not gotten that extradition request from Italy. If we got an extradition request from Italy, we would not extradite US officials to Italy."
An Italian judge last month ordered 25 alleged CIA operatives and the former head of Italy's military intelligence service to go on trial on charges of kidnapping an Egyptian imam in Milan in 2003 and taking him to Egypt for interrogation.
Mr Bellinger, who was in Brussels to meet European legal advisers, is the first senior US official to say publicly that CIA agents would not be sent for trial abroad.
The US faces continued criticism from Europe over its contentious practice of kidnapping terrorist suspects on foreign soil after the September 11 attacks. In January, prosecutors in Germany issued arrest warrants for 13 alleged CIA operatives in connection with allegations a German citizen was abducted and then detained in a secret Afghan prison.
Last month the European parliament accused some European Union governments of turning a blind eye to the illegal transport of alleged terrorists through their countries to face possible torture. It said the UK, Germany, Poland and other member states allowed CIA flights to stop over without proper controls.
Mr Bellinger branded that study "unbalanced, inaccurate and unfair". "I do think that these continuing investigations can harm intelligence co-operation," he said.
Romano Prodi, Italy's prime minister, is unwilling to agree to demands to seek extradition of the Americans.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 8:38 AM
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