WORLD BRIEFING / ITALY
The former head of Italy’s military intelligence told a court he had no role in the abduction of an Egyptian terrorism suspect -- allegedly as part of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program -- but said he cannot prove his innocence because the evidence is classified.
Nicolo Pollari is among seven Italians and 26 Americans on trial in the case, the first trial in any country involving the CIA program.
All seven Italian defendants deny involvement and have declined to answer prosecutors’ questions relating to the abduction, citing a constitutional court order preventing them from revealing classified information.
The American defendants are being tried in absentia.
Successive Italian governments have denied any involvement in the Feb. 17, 2003, abduction of Egyptian cleric Abu Omar from a street in Milan. Prosecutors say the Egyptian was flown to a U.S. air base in Germany and then to Egypt, where he said he was tortured.
He was later released in Egypt without being charged.
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