WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence sought to use "extraordinary rendition" to kidnap suspected terrorists in Europe within days of Sept. 11, 2001, testimony in Italy says.
The CIA wanted Italy's permission to pick up a suspected terrorist in Italy, bring him to an airport and send him to a "friendly" foreign country for imprisonment and interrogation, said Adm. Gianfranco Battelli, the retired head of Italy's military intelligence agency.
This initial secret contact and others that followed show the speed and breadth with which the CIA applied in post-Sept. 11 Europe the extraordinary rendition tactic -- abducting suspected Islamic radicals and taking them to countries other than the United States for interrogation, The Washington Post reports.
Critics accuse the CIA of doing this to avoid U.S. laws requiring due process and prohibiting torture.
A year later the CIA officer said he wanted more than 10 "dangerous people" in Italy, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands, the late Italian Gen. Gustavo Pignero says in a deposition for Italian prosecutors.
Records show the CIA took at least 10 European citizens or legal immigrants, some from countries not cited in the list of "dangerous people," the Post said.
