GreekAmerican
01-29-2007, 04:09 PM
Italians Seize Ex-CIA Chief's Villa
By COLLEEN BARRY
The Associated Press
Friday, January 26, 2007; 1:45 PM
MILAN, Italy -- Magistrates have seized a villa in northern Italy belonging to a former CIA station chief who faces a possible indictment in the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric, officials said Friday.
The villa in the northwestern Piedmont region belonging to Robert Seldon Lady will be held until the end of the trial. In the case of a conviction, it will be sold to pay for court costs and possibly damages to the injured party, said prosecutor Armando Spataro, who requested that the house be seized.
The order by magistrate Enrico Manzi applies to half the villa, the news agency ANSA reported, because Lady's wife is listed as co-owner, meaning authorities would be entitled to half of any sales price. Lady's former lawyer, Daria Pesce, said earlier this month that he intended to sell the villa. He is believed to be in the United States.
A preliminary hearing to decide whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence officials on criminal charges continues Monday in Milan.
A trial would be the first criminal prosecution involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which terror suspects are secretly transferred for interrogation to third countries where critics say they may face torture.
Pesce withdrew from the case earlier this month, saying statements by Italian spymasters implicating U.S. agents had undermined her attempts to head off a criminal trial. Lady was appointed counsel by the court.
He was still in Italy when the case broke, and his villa in the Asti wine region was searched by police.
All but one of the Americans have been identified by the prosecution as CIA agents, including former station chiefs in Rome and Milan. The other is a U.S. Air Force officer who was stationed at the time at Aviano air base near Venice. The Italians include the former head of the Italian military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari.
They are accused of involvement in the Feb. 17, 2003, alleged abduction of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street. Prosecutors say Nasr was flown via the joint U.S.-Italian Aviano air base first to Germany (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/germany.html?nav=el) and then on to Egypt (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/egypt.html?nav=el), where he is now being held.
Nasr, an Egyptian cleric and terrorist suspect, had been granted political asylum in Italy in 2001. He was under investigation on suspicion of involvement in international terrorism at the time of his disappearance, but had not been charged.
In Italy, defendants are not required to appear in court, and none showed up for the opening of the preliminary hearing Jan. 9. The CIA has declined to comment on the case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012600958.html
By COLLEEN BARRY
The Associated Press
Friday, January 26, 2007; 1:45 PM
MILAN, Italy -- Magistrates have seized a villa in northern Italy belonging to a former CIA station chief who faces a possible indictment in the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric, officials said Friday.
The villa in the northwestern Piedmont region belonging to Robert Seldon Lady will be held until the end of the trial. In the case of a conviction, it will be sold to pay for court costs and possibly damages to the injured party, said prosecutor Armando Spataro, who requested that the house be seized.
The order by magistrate Enrico Manzi applies to half the villa, the news agency ANSA reported, because Lady's wife is listed as co-owner, meaning authorities would be entitled to half of any sales price. Lady's former lawyer, Daria Pesce, said earlier this month that he intended to sell the villa. He is believed to be in the United States.
A preliminary hearing to decide whether to indict 26 Americans and five Italian intelligence officials on criminal charges continues Monday in Milan.
A trial would be the first criminal prosecution involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, in which terror suspects are secretly transferred for interrogation to third countries where critics say they may face torture.
Pesce withdrew from the case earlier this month, saying statements by Italian spymasters implicating U.S. agents had undermined her attempts to head off a criminal trial. Lady was appointed counsel by the court.
He was still in Italy when the case broke, and his villa in the Asti wine region was searched by police.
All but one of the Americans have been identified by the prosecution as CIA agents, including former station chiefs in Rome and Milan. The other is a U.S. Air Force officer who was stationed at the time at Aviano air base near Venice. The Italians include the former head of the Italian military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari.
They are accused of involvement in the Feb. 17, 2003, alleged abduction of Egyptian Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, from a Milan street. Prosecutors say Nasr was flown via the joint U.S.-Italian Aviano air base first to Germany (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/germany.html?nav=el) and then on to Egypt (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/egypt.html?nav=el), where he is now being held.
Nasr, an Egyptian cleric and terrorist suspect, had been granted political asylum in Italy in 2001. He was under investigation on suspicion of involvement in international terrorism at the time of his disappearance, but had not been charged.
In Italy, defendants are not required to appear in court, and none showed up for the opening of the preliminary hearing Jan. 9. The CIA has declined to comment on the case.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/26/AR2007012600958.html