"But this unanimous, pretty august group (ISG) stands as an impressive case in point that thinking the White House has got Iraq all wrong doesn't necessarily make you "shrill.""
"Nicolò Pollari, the former chief of military intelligence, was replaced by the Italian government last month, possibly in anticipation of his indictment. On Tuesday, prosecutors in Milan asked for his indictment for what they said was his collaboration with American agents in the abduction of the cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar.
The indictment asks for the trials of 26 Americans, all but one of whom were C.I.A. agents, including two who were the top agency officials in Italy at the time. The other American cited in the indictment is an Air Force colonel at the American air base in Aviano, from which Mr. Nasr says he was flown to an American air base in Germany, then to Egypt, where he claims he was tortured.
It is the first case in the world in which local officials have been tried in the contentious program of “extraordinary rendition,” a program in which American agents abducted scores of suspected Islamic militants after Sept. 11, 2001. The suspects are believed to have been taken to interrogation centers in third countries, some of which permit torture.
The case has complicated relations between Italy and the United States, though until now Italy has not asked for the agents’ extradition, meaning that any trials against them would take place in absentia. The American Embassy here declined to comment on the indictments.
The risk of political embarrassment inside Italy was underscored Tuesday after one of Mr. Pollari’s lawyers said the defense would call to the stand both the current prime minister, Romano Prodi, and the prime minister at the time, Silvio Berlusconi. The lawyer, Titta Madia, said the men would be able to testify about the existence of documents showing that Mr. Pollari was opposed to the abduction."
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