Trial Of Italian, CIA Agents Over Cleric's Kidnapping Stalls

Milan, Italy (AHN) - A judge in Milan, Italy postponed Wednesday the trial of nine Italian and 26 American intelligence agents charged with kidnapping a Muslim cleric and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.

Judge Oscar Magi rescheduled the trial to March 18 to allow the Constitutional Court to first decide whether or not the case will compromise national security.

Milan prosecutors and lawyers of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, the former head of Milan's main mosque, are seeking the revelation by the Italian military spy agency SISMI of information about the cleric's kidnapping on Feb. 17, 2003.

Nasr, who is suspected of helping terrorists, was whisked off to Germany before being taken to Egypt for interrogation. Upon his release last year, he sued the Italian government for his sufferings, including torture.

The prosecutors have accused Premier Silvio Berlusconi, his predecessor Romano Prodi, and ex-Italian military intelligence agency chief Niccolo' Pollari of obstructing justice by refusing to let the Italian agents testify on fears their cover will be blown and it will jeopardize secret operations of the SISMI and the CIA.

The trial of the case opened in June 2007. Pollari has denied participation in the kidnapping while the 26 CIA agents were tried in absentia.