IN THE NEWS
In the last 48 hours, the American and Italian governments are trading claims and counter-claims about the abduction of Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr. Yesterday, US official s said, "The Italians knew what we were planning and let us go ahead." Today, the Italian government is denying any complicitly or cooperation.
When an Italian judge released the arrest warrants for the CIA operatives accused of abducting Nasr, who was handed over to the tender mercy of Egyptian security forces, he appears to have been responding to an independent investigation. However, the abduction is now part of the political struggle between Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the opposition parties. Whether the parliamentary debate helps or hurts the prosecution remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, it's a damn shame that any of this is happening. Milan, where the abduction took place, is a well-known meeting place and transfer point for terrorists. The Al Qaeda cell responsible for the March 11, 2004 bombings in Madrid operated out of Milan; in fact, the accused mastermind of the attack, Rabei Osman El Sayed Ahmed, was arrested in Milan and extradited to Spain. The cells responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the United States also had a presence in Milan during the planning phases of the operation. Italy at large is also an entry point into Europe for terrorists from North Africa and the Middle East, so Italians and Americans alike have good reasons to cooperate.
I don't think, however, from the information available, that the judge in the case had a choice--particularly since Europeans in general have been able to identify, track, capture, prosecute, and convict terrorists without these sorts of shenanigans. Whether or not officials in the Italian goverment cooperated with the CIA operatives in Nasr's kidnapping and "rendition," the standard Italian and European approach to counterterrorism has largely stayed within the law and been effective in checking or dismantling terrorist groups.
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