[From the diaries by susanhu.]
Italy Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Agents
By AIDAN LEWIS
Associated Press Writer
ROME (AP) — An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 CIA agents for allegedly helping deport an imam to Egypt as part of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts, an Italian official familiar with the investigation said Friday.
Uhh, will you all excuse me if I say HOLY FREAKIN’ SHIT!
The agents are suspected in the seizure of an Egyptian-born imam identified as Abu Omar on the streets of Milan in February 2003, according to the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome declined to comment.
Prosecutors believe the agents seized Omar as part of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program, in which terror suspects are transferred to third countries without court approval, according to reports Friday in newspapers Corriere della Sera and Il Giorno.
I’m not sure what to make of this, yet. Anyone have any insight into what this might portend?
If this catches on, it could be major headaches for the Torture Machine. I’d be interested in hearing from someone in Italy… what’s the take on the ground? Is this Berlusconi’s way to placate those who were wild at him for going easy on the US in the Sgrena incident? Is it the final straw for Italy?
Isn’t that our criteria for who gets legally tortured?
I wonder what the reaction is going to be by the government and if anyone if going to report it.
If they are employees of the embassy, then they have diplomatic immunity and will just be kicked out of the country. Are they “agents” or “case officers”? Very important distinction. Agents are “assets” recruited and run by case officers, usually nationals of the country in which they are operating. In this case, it would make them Italians. If they are actually agency employees who are not part of the embassy staff, then it could get dicey.
In any event, this is a big “aw, shit”!
NOC stands for Non-Official Cover. Most CIA types have an official cover as employees of the embassy – 2d Secretary for Cultural Liaison or other BS like that.
NOCs are people who are CIA employees, but out running around without an official U.S. government connection. They are NOT covered by diplomatic immunity, because they are not in country in an official position.
If ANY of the 13 CIA people are NOCs, then that represents a SERIOUS breach of security, because their cover is blown and any operations they are involved in will be linked to them. Think Valerie Plame case to the 10th power.
yea, I was thinking NOCs when I said “other agency employees – could get dicey”, or even worse – contact employees!
that should be “contract employees” not contact – my bad.
It clearly says ‘agents’. That indicates contract employees. A CIA agent is an asset. James Bond would be a MI6 ‘officer’.
They recruit agents.
However, the press is lazy. It is doubtful that the CIA is utilizing contractors to do high profile renditions. But, it’s possible, for issues of deniability.
That was my question, whether the press was lazy or not – they usualloy are. “Agent” sounds so much more sexy but may not be accurate. As far as contract employees, definately could be. I remember in the Army’s Special Forces Qualification Course, we had “contract” pilots fly down for training as we jumped out of their aircraft – DC3’s, Twin Otters, etc at Camp McCall, Ft. Bragg. All of them were painted white with a blue streak down the fusilage (the updated version of Air America). We trained with jumping out of non-conventional aircraft and they trained with inserting “insurgents” covertly. I can easily imagine the same people doing renditions (or “snatch operations” in our lingo).
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Yes it’s sloppy editing. The CIA is never mentioned by the judge in her ruling. After all, the 13 individuals are accused of unlawful actions on Italian territory. Being a CIA agent is not a violation of the law. An anonymous source confirmed that the commando was a CIA covert operation.
The only person who has been positively identified is the CIA station chief in Milan who commandeered the operation. He has been in Milan since 2000, and was granted diplomatic status in 2003 as consul. He was recently removed from his diplomatic position and went into private security business in Milan. He remarked last February when this story broke that the authorities can come and pick him up anytime.
He has since disappeared. Perhaps he changed his mind.
Then he was in the DO and a case officer. He is now Persona-non-Grata. Arrogant schmucks! I remember in Panama working with these fuck-heads! We were camoflouged in uniform and face paint, the CIA dip-shits decided to come on our patrols and wear chinos and polo shirts. I mean, I’m a wolverine, but these shit-heads from the ivy league just had no clue and endangered us as well.
Bob was a NY cop, born in Tegucigalpa in 1954. He was a CIA agent in Central America involved in black ops. He allegedly infiltrated guerilla groups and acted as an “agent provocateur” in the 80’s.
His cover was burned by the CIA agent, Aldrich Ames, who revealed the identities of many American agents in SA to the KGB in 1994.
The CIA eventually sent Bob to Italy. This time he burnt himself.
I was doing the Central America thing in th elate 80’s early 90’s. I also know a few great places to go in Tegucigalpa. The SOB, I amy have seen him, I hope he burns…sorry about my rage but I’ve seen too many things fucked up by CIA types that it just boggles my mind – can’t believe that I even interviewed with them, ah, just idealism, thought I could change things. Now I just study literature and escape into the world where humanity might just do something good for itself.
I’m more concerned about what this means on the IR front. How will this impact our already tenuous relationship with the EU?
Lorenzo Vidino at the Counterterrorism Blog:
Predictably, Italian media, which name the names of some CIA operatives involved in the operation, harshly criticize the CIA operation, which, technically violated Italy’s sovereignity. The indictment could potentially create difficulties to US authorities, not only because the 13 are now “burnt,” but also because it could jeopardize cooperation with Italy, an important al Qaeda place of operation and a key ally.
It was really only a matter of time before this started happening (other countries fighting back, I mean, not the extraordinary, extra-legal bullshit the CIA thinks it can get away with in other countries)….I mean, basically, we shit on the sovereignty of other nations all the time, in all sorts of different ways…I’m just glad someone is just saying NO …. the US is is waay waay waay to big for its britches and the rest of the wrold needs to start calling bullshit.
The only name released is that of Robert Sheldon Lady. It is most likely that the CIA operatives used false names. The passports and credit cards the operatives used were authentic.
It’s called the rule of law. The degree of shock displayed here just shows how far from that rule of law the United States has strayed over the past few years.
The CIA agents in question will wriggle free, though; Italy doesn’t dare defy the US government…but this incident will embarrass the United States.
Under Italian law, a magistrate can order the arrest of suspects, but once they are arrested, of course sufficient evidence must be shown to charge them.
I don’t even think it will get to that stage. A magistrate’s order to arrest can be quashed at a higher level. Note, too, that the 13 are all still at large, and I should be most surprised to learn that they are still in Italy. No doubt they have left the country.
What’s more, I’m guessing the CIA made certain that all agents involved had the status of diplomatic immunity before they got involved in this operation, and there’ll be nothing this particular magistrate (Chiara Nobile) can do about it. In fact, this seems to be the case already:
Investigators confirmed the kidnapping through an eyewitness account and other, unidentified witnesses, the statement said.
Milan prosecutors twice asked the Egyptian authorities for information about Hassan’s whereabouts. But Cairo didn’t respond.
The involved CIA agents included the alleged chief of the operation, who was an accredited diplomat with the U.S. consulate in Milan at the time, the Corriere said, citing reports by Milan magistrates.
The paper also said that Italian investigators possess photographs of all the agents involved in the operation, as well as details of their accommodation, mobile telephones, passports and credit card records.
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=8947
What’s more, the Italian authorities have admitted in today’s newspapers and television reports that they don’t know for certain the identities of all of the agents involved (and never will).
In other words, don’t expect to see any of these suspects in an Italian court, facing charges nor trial.
There will be no legal ramifications.
However, there are political ramifications, as should be obvious–the Italian public is outraged by this violation of their national sovereignty, and this is a major embarrassment for the Berlusconi government, which of course has been closely identified as pro-Bush.
Italians, as you may well imagine, are a proud people, proud of their heritage, and jealous of their national sovereignty. This incident shows that Berlusconi cannot even control Italian soil from American agents, and may yet be one more factor that precipitates the collapse of his government.
However, one must remember that Berlusconi is the richest man in the country by far–he is Italy’s Bill Gates–and Berlusconi has the advantage of having a friendly media in Italy because, well, he owns a lot of it! Berlusconi’s main business group, called Mediaset, comprises three national television channels, which hold approximately 45% of the national viewing audience; and Publitalia, the leader Italian advertising and publicity agency; Berlusconi also owns Mondadori, the largest Italian publishing house which publishes Panorama, a news magazine; he has interests in cinema and home video distribution firms (Medusa and Penta), insurance and banking (Mediolanum) and a variety of other activities. His brother controls Il Giornale, and his wife Il foglio, both center-right newspapers which print a lot fewer daily copies then the more popular “Corriere della Sera” and “La Repubblica”.
I’m sorry, I wrote in haste in my first comment that “this incident will embarrass the United States.”
I meant to write, “this incident will embarrass the government of the United States.”
And actually, it won’t…because there is no shame, no decency, in the right-wing fanatics who have seized control of the US government and made the USA into a rogue nation, feared by all and trusted by none.
“Under Italian law, a magistrate can order the arrest of suspects, but once they are arrested, of course sufficient evidence must be shown to charge them.”
This is fine if a suspect is caught in the act or arrested before or during an investigation. In this case a judge can grant “lo stato di fermo” that is “being held for further verifications.” It is a lot more complicated than that, but for brevities sake, I’ll leave it at that. Anyway, it’s not the case.
These arrest warrants were issued after a full investigation. Once an investigation is finished and the investigators feel there is enough evidence to proceed, their dossier is presented to a preliminary judge who decides whether there is sufficient grounds to issue an arrest warrant and have a trial.
These arrest warrants were issued because the gip, Chiara Nobile, determined that there is enough to incriminate the thirteen agents.
“In other words, don’t expect to see any of these suspects in an Italian court, facing charges nor trial.
There will be no legal ramifications.”
Italian law admits trial by default, that is the CIA agents could be tried in absentia. Unless they are captured or turn themselves in, this is the most likely scenario.
Thank you for that information.
Very helpful–I wasn’t aware of the finer points of the Italian legal system, and your comment has been most enlightening.
However, perhaps you could comment on the issue of diplomatic immunity? It has already been noted that the person in charge of this group of 13 DOES have diplomatic status and therefore immunity–I will assume that the CIA granted all 13 diplomatic passports to ensure similar immunity. As you are well aware, anyone enjoying diplomatic immunity could not be held for questioning, and certainly not prosecuted, nor would they be subject to extradition. At the most, a lawyer might appear in an Italian court to claim the immunity and have the charges dismissed, but that’s about the most we can hope for…unless two things coincide:
(1) Some or all of the 13 CIA agents are still in Italy and
(2) The agents remaining in Italy are apprehended before leaving the country and do NOT have diplomatic immunity.
I do not believe that the American governmetn is going to extradite its agents to Italy–and even if these agents don’t have diplomatic passports now, those can easily be forged. After all, what’s a few more forgeries for the Bushies?
I read of this kidnapping when the on-line newspapers wrote about it in the context of the Calipari/Sgrena shooting. The US accused Italy of acting independently in Iraq during the negotiations and release of Giuliana. Besides the fact that Italy is a sovereign nation, and does not answer to the US, the example of Abu Omar was used to show that the US does not practice what it preaches. (I know, big surprise.) It is also the example that La Repubblica used to criticize Il Manifesto – how can Manifesto criticize the US now (the murder of Calipari) when you were quiet when the Imam was kidnapped?
One interesting note – Calipari and Carpani made sure not to use their cell phones in Baghdad before the Giuliana was released.
http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/06_Giugno/24/pop_rapimento.shtml
The missions that lead to the capture of Abu Omar:
1 Abu Omar is stopped by two people who speak Italian.
2 13 people participated in the action, and they were organized by the Milan chief of station.
3 There are three women in the unit to arouse less suspicion
4 Their cell phones gave them away. They called their superior and even home in Virginia.
The stages of the kidnapping:
1 Milan – On February 17, 2003 Abu Omar is kidnapped in via Guerzoni in Milan by a CIA unit.
2 Aviano – He is transferred in a van to the American air base at Aviano
3 Ramstein, Germany – The CIA takes him in a Lear jet to Germany where he is put in a second jet.
4 Cairo, Egypt – Abu Omar flies to Cairo on a Gulfstream rented by the CIA. The jet is owned by the Sarasota Red Sox baseball team.
Plane Rental
– The CIA paid almost 5,000 Euro an hour.
– The crew consisted of two pilots and two assistants
– 10 to 14 passengers
– Small kitchen for meals
– Conference area: four seats, satellite system, fax and computer
– Baseball – the symbol of the Boston Red Sox baseball team who are the owner of the plane used by the CIA.
http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/06_Giugno/24/imam.shtml
The reconstruction of the actions was made by the Italian cell phones used during the operation. The US command celebrated the success of the operation in a large hotel in Venice.
Thirteen CIA agents are wanted by the Milan police for kidnapping. Among the agents cited is the CIA chief of station in Milan, who received diplomatic accreditation in 2003 – US consul in Italy – who was suddenly substituted in later months.
* snip * description of extraordinary rendition strategy used by US * snip *
The Milan magistrates have proof that an extraordinary rendition took place in Italy. The Digos police discovered their cover names, cell phones, pictures, passports, credit cards and US addresses used in the Milan hotels where they stayed, divided in groups, in the week of the kidnapping.
The kidnapping of the Imam was costly: the CIA agents paid more the 120,000 euro just to sleep in the most luxurious five-star hotels in Milan. On the ninth of February, while Abu Omar was being tortured in Egypt, the heads of the American unit were celebrating in Venice at the Westin Europa. Before vanishing from Italy, two couples of the CIA agents took a vacation in romantic hotels in Valmalenco and in the Gulf of the Poets.
The US agents used Italian cell phones to communicate among themselves, even during the kidnapping. The Digos police, who investigated Abu Omar in 2002 for international terrorism, were able to isolate a total of 17 cell phones that on the day of the kidnapping, between 12:28 and 12:33, were used in via Guerzoni, where Abu Omar was taken while he walked from his house to the nearby mosque in viale Jenner. There was an eye-witness to the kidnapping: an Egyptian woman who saw two false Italian policemen block Abu Omar, who was asking for help in Arabic while he was being forcefully loaded into a white van without rear windows. The investigation learned that immediately after the kidnapping, the cell phone of the presumed head of the unit called a number assigned to the US consulate in Milan, and the personal cell phone of Bob, the CIA chief of station.
The analysis of the Telecom and Wind antennas of nine cell phones show that a second group of American agents took care of the transportation of the hostage, with a van and two rented autos to guard, to the US military base at Aviano. Digos even found three cards used by the three vehicles to pay the toll fees, with entrance at Milano-Cormano and exit at exactly 4 pm at the toll booth at Portogruaro.
At 4:13 pm and 4:32 pm the head of the unit called the number of a colonel at Aviano, supposedly to advise of their arrival and to avoid being checked by the Italian military. At 6:20 pm the CIA plane (a Learjet with the military initials Spar 92 – person non identifiable on board) takes off from Avian for Ramstein, the US base in Germany which hosts the European command of the CIA.
From Ramstein a second jet (N85VM) departed at 8:31 pm for Cairo. The jet is a Gulfstream registered to the Boston Red Sox, who confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that they had effectively rented it to the CIA. At half-past midnight, the head of the CIA unit calls from Italy to a telephone in Virginia, the state where the headquarters of the CIA is located.
On February 18, Abu Omar is in the Egyptian prison at Al Tora, where the interrogations and torture begin. The Milan Procura has asked two times for official information on the fate of the Imam, but Egypt has never replied.
All of the cell phones used by the kidnappers are irregular because registered under false names, nonexistent companies and even an innocent Milan gentlemen and an unsuspecting Romanian bricklayer. The CIA agents did have to show their US passports to register in 23 hotels and in four car rental agencies. Digos took the photocopies of the documents, which are authentic and probably with cover names. The identity of “Bob” is authentic as he was known by Digos as the Milan chief of station. Besides the thirteen actually involved in the kidnapping, there were also at least six other agents who participated by spying on the Imam until February 10.
Many questions remain without answer: is it possible that the CIA kidnapped someone with advising their ally, the Italian government? And who were the two false policemen speaking in Italian that blocked Abu Omar?
Excellent follow-up.
This could become really ugly.
When a cell phone is turned on it sends pings at a regular rate that identifies its unique position. Each cell phone is unique regardless of whether the chip has been changed.
Once a cell phone has been identified, investigators can follow it anywhere in the world. They just have to wait until it turns on again. Changing the card inside makes no difference.
That’s how investigators traced the flight to Ramstein and Cairo, as well as Bob’s visit to Cairo.
That’s why Calipari and Carpani turned off their cell phones. Only to turn them on again just before the tragedy.
The CIA agents didn’t bother, which made it so easy for the investigation.
The fact that anyone was keeping track at all, if they did other than from billing records, suggests that Italian counterintelligence may have been on to them but didn’t act immediately because they were worried about complications with the U.S. if there were arrests.
The investigation began several months after Abu Omar’s disappearance. I do not know how long phone companies are required by law to keep all records of cell phone activity. I think it’s at least one or two years.
This does not mean that the contents of calls are necessarily preserved. Just the traffic and the location. Besides that’s what phone bills are all about.
This whole affair does not exclude Italian counter-intelligence nor the participation of Italian elements in the operation.
What is most note-worthy is the fact that the Berlusconi government never used its faculty to hamper the investigation by invoking state secrecy. It is precisely for this reason that I would exclude direct involvement by the Italian Secret Services.
Impressive summary account, thanks.
My initial reaction was, This wouldn’t have happened if the U.S. had cooperated on the Calipari investigation. It sounds to me as if the combination of non-cooperation and the abduction may have been the proverbial camel-breaking straw.
Then, more thoughts:
*If these are the best the CIA can offer, god help us all. They’re even more incompetent than I had thought. Even I would know enough not to use cell phones that way.
*They spent 120,000 Euros on hotels in Venice, how much else on cars, food, other hotels, various logistics, planes? So, if each of these “renditions” is costing, say, half a million to a million dollars, perhaps that explains some of the missing billions. </snark>
*Each day, I think I can’t be more outraged and disgusted by the illegal thugs who have taken over our government, and each day I am surprised anew.
Let’s not forget almost the exact same thing happened to a German citizen. He was swooped off the street in Macedonia and returned a few weeks later at dark to the Albanian countryside, stranded without passport or money.
His name was Khaled al-Masri and he was “rendered” to what looks like Bagram in Afghanistan, where he was tortured and interrogated. It seems the only reason he was ever let go was because he was the wrong guy – had the “right” name but the wrong guy.
Although al-Masri is of Lebanese origin he WAS a German citizen. Has this done anything to US-German relations? Not that I can see. And I doubt that this Italian job will do anything either… sadly.
Pax
Well, Italy could take action on this. First of all, it could order U.S. diplomats expelled. A diplomat can’t be punished for crimes, but he can be kicked out of the country.
More dramatically, Italy could pull the plug on the Aviano air base in Italy. This is THE airbase for operations over much of the Middle East, much more stategically important than the German bases, so it would be a big deal.
Also, I suspect the CIA agents themselves will be reprimanded, not for violating human rights, of course, but for getting caught, blatantly caught, in a manner that has disclosed the identity of many covert operatives including a station chief, exposed CIA methods, and make the U.S. look bad in public opinion in Europe.
You do realise you’re talking about Silvio Berlusconi’s government, don’t you?
The man makes George W. Bush look like Cary Grant. Berlusconi has called the Germans Nazis, recently insulted the Finns, and…well, the list is so long I’d rather not recite it. Not to mention the long string of criminal cases pending against Italy’s beloved Il Dunce.
If Berlusconi’s government fell, then there is some possibility of real retaliation for this…but whilst Berlusconi remains in power, no chance of anything except a public face-saving operation.