US State Dept. declined comment referring questions to the Justice Dept. who also declined comment

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/CIA_agents_to_stand_trial_for_Italy_kidnapping.html?siteSect=143&sid=7535610&cKey=1171644783000

CIA agents to stand trial for Italy kidnapping
By Antonella Ciancio

MILAN (Reuters) - A Milan judge on Friday ordered 26 Americans, most of them believed to be CIA agents, to stand trial with Italian spies for kidnapping a Muslim cleric and flying him to Egypt, where he says he was tortured.

Among those indicted for the 2003 abduction are the former heads of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in Rome and Milan, and the former head of Italy's SISMI military intelligence agency, Nicolo Pollari, defence lawyers said.

The trial, set to begin on June 8, will be the first criminal case over "renditions" -- one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush's war on terrorism.

Prosecutors say a CIA-led team, with SISMI's help, grabbed terrorism suspect Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, off a Milan street in February 2003, bundled him into a van and drove him to a military base in northern Italy.

From there, prosecutors allege the CIA flew him via Germany to Egypt where he says he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse. snip

"I have been reduced to a wreck of a human being," he told ANSA news agency after his release. In another interview this week he said he could hardly walk: "They burst my kidneys." snip

The U.S. State Department declined comment on the matter, referring questions to the Justice Department, which would represent the U.S. government to the extent it becomes involved in the case. The Justice Department had no comment.

[William769]

1. The headline says it all.

[EFerrari]

2. I shouldn't laugh at this but, can't any of these people TALK to each other?

My DOG seems to have better interpersonal skills.

:rofl:

[LeahD]

4. Or is it called "passing the buck?" n/t

[EFerrari]

5. That would require hand - eye coordination.

[joemurphy]

3. Another shameful episonde....There have been so many.

These sorts of activities betray everything America is supposed to stand for.
Ironic, isn't it, that our Department of "Justice" would have no comment on a blatant disrespect for the basic principles of comity and international law.