Via the Daily News Egypt:

Swiss authorities have frozen an investigation into CIA operatives suspected of illegally transporting an abducted Egyptian Muslim preacher through Swiss airspace, an official said Friday.
“The case was suspended in November 2007,” said Jeannette Balmer, a spokeswoman for the Swiss federal prosecutor’s office.
Switzerland joined Italy, the country from which the preacher was allegedly abducted, and Germany in raising the threat of prosecution of CIA operatives when it authorized the start of criminal proceedings in February.
The neutral country, which has cooperated closely with the United States in investigations and attempts to shut down terrorists’ funding networks, has generally avoided open disputes with the US government.
But the seven-member Cabinet said last year that it could not tolerate the use of Swiss airspace for an abduction, citing evidence that basic norms of international law were violated.
The investigation concerned the alleged kidnapping of Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr, known as Abu Omar, from a street in Milan. The CIA allegedly flew Nasr from Aviano air base in Italy across Switzerland to Ramstein air base, Germany, and then on to Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 17, 2003.
Nasr, who was allegedly tortured during his imprisonment in Egypt, was ordered released last year by an Egyptian State Security Court that ruled his detention for four years in Egypt was unfounded.
Balmer said Swiss prosecutors “will not provide any further information on this case until the circumstances allow to do so.” She declined to comment further.

Nabila Ghali, 38, and 14-year-old Italian-born Muhammad Abdel Hakim were due to leave Alexandria today on a 4am flight to Milan via Athens, using their Egyptian passports.

“I’ve been trying to get permission from State Security for the past two weeks, without much success,” Abu Omar told me. “I called them up myself, and asked (lawyer) Montasser (el-Zayat) and Islamist leaders to intervene also on my behalf. Finally State Security Major Faisal in Alexandria, who is one of the officers assigned my case, told me it was OK, and that Om Muhammad can leave from the Nozha airport.”

When they arrived at the airport, however, Nabila and Muhammad were banned from traveling by State Security agents, who denied receiving permission form the bureau, either in Cairo or Alexandria.

The reason for the visit was to get the consulate stamp on the Italian translation of the Egyptian documents. Also, Abu Omar wants to issue new Italian travel documents, instead of those confiscated by the Egyptian Mukhabarat on his arrival in Cairo on a CIA-chartered flight in February 2003 to face a torture odyssey, or what the CIA calls “extraordinary rendition.”

The three were met by the Italian Consular. While he was happy to process Abu Omar’s translated documents, he said he was not authorized to issue him travel documents, asking him instead to go to apply at the Italian Consulate in Alexandria, his city of residence. Abu Omar is planning to go there today.

Abu Omar was kidnapped from Milan, by the CIA in February 2003, part of their extraordinary renditions program, and was flown to Egypt where he was brutally tortured by the Mukhabarat and State Security Police.

Abu Omar is still banned from traveling outside the country. Moreover the government refuses to issue him a National ID card. This basically means he cannot open a bank account, issue a passport, or conduct any sort of transaction. He basically does not exist any more in the eyes of the law.

Abu Omar says he sent a letter to State Security Police demanding his documents, but they have ignored him completely. “If my problem does not get solved soon, I’ll travel to Cairo to protest and stage a hunger strike,” he told me tonight. “I’m expecting my arrest any minute, and have already prepared my bag with items I’ll need in prison.”

Cleric at center of alleged CIA kidnapping case says he was tortured in Egypt
ALEXANDRIA (AP) _ An Egyptian cleric, speaking publicly for the first time, said that Egyptian officials tortured him in prison after he was kidnapped in Italy _ allegedly by CIA agents _ and sent here for interrogation.
The claims by Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr sharpened the controversy over the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program, just days after Italy indicted 26 Americans and five Italian agents accused of seizing him.
The case is the first criminal trial connected to the rendition policy, in which U.S. agents secretly transferred terror suspects for interrogation to third countries where critics say they faced torture.
Italy has signaled it won’t seek the extradition of the 25 CIA agents and one U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, but it will likely try them in absentia. From the outset, U.S. officials have declined comment on the case.
Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, showed up unexpectedly Thursday at the trial of an Egyptian blogger in this Mediterranean coastal city _ his first public appearance since he was released Feb. 11 after four years in Egyptian custody.
“I was subjected to the worst kind of torture in Egyptian prisons. I have scars of torture all over my body,” Nasr told journalists outside the trial, which is unrelated to his case.
The 44-year-old bearded Muslim preacher showed dark, circular scars on his wrists and ankles that he said were from electrical shocks by Egyptian interrogators. He said he also has scars on his stomach and other areas but was embarrassed to show them in a public place.
He expressed fears that Egyptian security services would re-arrest him for speaking out. “I could be arrested the moment I leave here,” Nasr said.
“I don’t want trouble with anyone anymore. My body cannot bear any more prison and torture,” he said.
Nasr’s case has given a rare look into the renditions program.
Italian prosecutors say Nasr _ suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes _ was kidnapped from the streets of Milan in February 2003 by CIA agents with help from Italian agents. He was allegedly taken to Aviano Air Base near Venice, then to Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany, and finally to Egypt.

U.S. officials said in December 2005 that up to 150 terror suspects had been seized and flown to their homelands for interrogation under the renditions program.
The Bush administration has insisted that it gets guarantees from those countries that suspects will not be tortured. Egypt, Syria, Algeria and Saudi Arabia _ all countries with records of torture, according to human rights activists _ are believed to be among the countries where suspects have been sent.
In Washington, U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said the administration has nothing more to say on Nasr’s case, adding that the United States “does not render people to countries where we assume they will be mistreated or tortured.”
Egypt, a close U.S. ally, has kept silent over its role in the program.
Nasr was freed in 2004, but was arrested again three weeks later after he spoke to a journalist by telephone. Egypt never acknowledged he was in custody, but the prime minister said in 2005 that “people have been sent” to Egypt, without elaborating.
An Italian prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Nasr in April 2005 as part of a terrorism inquiry. Nasr was accused of fighting in Afghanistan and Bosnia, though his Egyptian lawyer denied he had ever visited those countries.
Nasr said Thursday he was innocent and wanted to return to Italy, where he was granted political asylum in 2001, four years after entering illegally. He appealed to Italy for help, saying Egyptian authorities had barred him from traveling.
“I want to go back and stand in front of the Italian judiciary and prove my innocence,” he said.
Italian prosecutor Armando Spataro said Thursday that judicial authorities would like Nasr to testify against the American and Italian agents. Egypt has never responded to an Italian request for access to the cleric.
“Obviously it would be useful to hear what he has to say, but obviously it does not depend on us,” Spataro said. “If he is banned from leaving (Egypt) there’s nothing we can do.”
Nasr spoke at the trial of Abdul-Kareem Nabil, a blogger from Alexandria who was convicted Thursday of insulting Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in his Internet writings and sentenced to four years in prison.
Nasr said Nabil was his neighbor in Alexandria, though it appeared he came to the court to make his appeal to the media. After the court session, he told an Associated Press reporter that he could not speak more for fear of arrest.

UPDATE: Here’s a report by Aziz el-Kaissouni:

Egypt frees cleric at center of CIA kidnap case
By Aziz El-Kaissouni
CAIRO, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities have released a Muslim cleric kidnapped in a suspected CIA operation in Italy and handed to Egypt, the cleric’s lawyer said on Sunday.
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was grabbed off a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt, where he said he had been tortured by Egyptian agents using electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse.
Lawyer Montasser al-Zayat told Reuters Nasr had been released and was back with his family.
Zayat said a court had ordered Nasr to be freed, and the Ministry of Interior had complied. He added that the release was unsurprising as he saw no obvious reason why Nasr should remain in custody any longer.
“I expected that the justifications for his detention are done with. It’s no longer a secret,” Zayat said.
While Nasr was initially charged with membership of an illegal organization, the charges were ultimately dropped, and Nasr was briefly released in April 2004 before being detained without charge under Egypt’s emergency laws.
His lawyer had said he believed Nasr was re-arrested after ignoring warnings not to speak to anyone about the kidnapping and rendition.
Asked whether Nasr would remain silent as to what had happened to him during his time in detention, Zayat said Nasr had “(chosen) to live, and avoid the painful years he’s lived through … he wants to raise his children.”
Zayat had previously told Reuters state security prosecutors had denied him access to all of the case documents, including forensic reports which could have proven Nasr was tortured in detention. Nasr had also attempted suicide on three occasions, Zayat had said.
International rights groups say torture is systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. Egypt says it does not condone torture, and that it only occurs in isolated instances.
Nasr’s release comes as an Italian judge was considering whether to indict 32 suspects, including Italy’s former spy chief and a group of Americans believed to be CIA agents, in connection with the kidnap.
If tried, the case would be the first criminal procedure over renditions, one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush’s global “war on terror”.
Washington acknowledges secret transfers of terrorism suspects to third countries, but denies torturing suspects or handing them to countries that do.

Egypt cleric lawyer says had no access to files
By Aziz El-Kaissouni
CAIRO, Jan 31 (Reuters) – A lawyer for a Muslim cleric kidnapped in a suspected CIA operation in Italy and handed to Egypt said he had been denied access to medical reports that might back his client’s allegations he was tortured in custody.
Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, has complained he was tortured by Egyptian agents using electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse after he was grabbed off a Milan street in 2003 and flown to Egypt.
Lawyer Montasser al-Zayat said his client had shown him marks on his back and arms that Nasr said were burn marks.
He also said Nasr, currently held in Tora prison south of Cairo, had attempted suicide three times while in custody.
Zayat’s comments came as an Italian judge was considering whether to indict 32 suspects including Italy’s former spy chief and a group of Americans believed to be CIA agents in connection with the kidnap.
If tried, the case would be the first criminal procedure over renditions, one of the most controversial aspects of U.S. President George W. Bush’s global “war on terror”.
Zayat said officials had informed him that Nasr had been examined by forensic doctors, but state security prosecutors had ignored his requests for access to the medical reports or any other documents.
“His injuries were examined by forensic doctors. As to what the medical report said, that’s in the file at State Security Prosecution, and we’ve not been able to see the files thus far,” Zayat told Reuters.
“Keeping us from seeing (the medical reports) indicates there’s something. His attempting to commit suicide three times indicates he’s suffering abnormal treatment,” he added.
Egyptian prosecutors could not be reached for comment.
TORTURE IN EGYPT
International rights groups say that torture is systematic in Egyptian jails and police stations. Egypt says it does not condone torture, and that it only occurs in isolated instances.
Washington acknowledges secret transfers of terrorism suspects to third countries, but denies torturing suspects or handing them to countries that do.
Zayat said Nasr, upon arrival in Egypt, was charged with membership in an illegal organization — charges Egypt typically uses against members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
But Zayat said those charges were ultimately dropped and Nasr was briefly released in April 2004 before being detained without charge under Egypt’s emergency laws.
He said he believes Nasr was released when Egyptian authorities decided he had no connection to militancy, and that he was later re-arrested after ignoring warnings not to speak to anyone about the kidnapping and rendition.
He said Nasr had a heart condition, diabetes and hypertension, and needed urinary tract surgery.