Tag: usa

I’m hearing news that Abu Omar, the cleric who was kidnapped by the CIA and rendered to Cairo where he was tortured, has been finally released, but under orders not to speak to the media.

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.