MILAN, Italy, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The 2003 abduction of a Muslim cleric from Italy to Egypt was opposed by Milan's CIA mission chief, who is now wanted by Italian prosecutors.
A preliminary hearing into the February 2003 abduction of suspected terror recruiter Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr jointly by the CIA and Italian SISMI intelligence agents is to begin Tuesday in Milan, but none of the 25 CIA staff allegedly involved will be present, as they face arrest, a Chicago Tribune correspondent reported.
Among them is Robert Lady, the retired Milan CIA chief, believed to be living in the United States. Documents show Lady was opposed to the abduction of Nasr, but was overruled by his immediate boss, the chief of the CIA's station in Rome, the newspaper said.
The 24 CIA personnel who allegedly played a part in the rendition of Nasr to Egypt were reassigned to other U.S. embassies and consulates abroad and Lady retired at the end of 2003.
However, he and the others face arrest if they set foot in any of the 27 members of the European Union because of the abduction, the Tribune said.
