Tony Hatfield's Retired Ramblings

Abu Omar's abduction.

More on this story from Corriere della Sera: The abducted imam, the CIA, and unanswered questions. "At the traditional summer round tables, in weighty academic tomes, and in the bitter recollections of aging pioneers of the genre, it is customary to lament the passing of classic investigative journalism. In the view of many, this thinning of the fourth estate’s blood has weakened media credibility. It is therefore a genuine pleasure to salute the work of Guido Olimpo and Paolo Biondani, two newshounds whose meticulous investigations revealed the American Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine operation to abduct and secretly transfer to Egypt Imam Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, better known as Abu Omar, suspected of organizing fundamentalist terrorist cells. The victim was tailed on a street in Milan, immobilized with a chemical spray, kidnapped, sent in secret to the US air base at Aviano, and from there to the fastnesses of the Mubarak regime, with no legal guarantees whatsoever. Now the Abu Omar case threatens to widen the split between the United States and Italy, following the regrettable aftermath of the Sgrena case and the death of Nicola Calipari. Abu Omar’s abduction took place on the territory of a friendly sovereign state, and ally of Washington, which has courageously supported the postwar peace process in Iraq by sending troops to Nassiriya, thus exposing itself to Madrid-style terrorist reprisals. The fact that, in between dallyings in luxury hotels and expenses James Bond would have baulked at, the CIA chose to act without informing the Italian authorities confirms that the US administration has yet to grasp the scale of the damage wreaked on America’s image by the chains at Guantanamo, the photos of Abu Ghraib, and the covert actions of the CIA, whose strategic aims were explained yesterday to the Corriere della Sera by Robert Baer, a former member of the Directorate of Operations. What is the point of the forthright speech by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urging America’s Egyptian and Saudi allies to at last open their societies to democracy if the CIA then sends Abu Omar, illegally abducted in Italy, to Cairo, to be unceremoniously interrogated without lawyers, transparency, or legal process, all considered superfluous luxuries in time of war by Washington hardliners? The finest moments in American history, from Lincoln to Roosevelt, show that despite all the grey areas, it is possible to defend democracy by force without distorting its spirit. Biondani and Olimpio’s investigation reaffirms that in a free country, a free press has a vigorous, fruitful role to play, if it steers clear of Byzantine plottings and power games, and goes straight for the facts. The Corriere della Sera’s feature poses serious questions about responsibilities. Was this an unauthorized operation by the CIA? Did the White House know? Was the Pentagon informed? How far up did that knowledge filter? Did the Italian authorities give the green light? Or was the light yellow? Did any Italians attend the notification briefings, and if they did, why did they say yes? Professor Peter Spiro of Georgetown University has few doubts, and claims that the Americans would never collaborate on an operation like this. That may be true, but the Abu Omar case has been picked up by the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and other leading American newspapers, the ABC and CNN television networks, and hundreds of other papers all over the world, from Britain’s Belfast Telegraph and Independent, Canada’s Calgary Sun, to Australia’s Gold Coast Bulletin. The worldwide outcry will be hard to face down. In fact, it has already been mentioned in the official White House bulletin, hitherto entrenched behind a wall of “no comments.” Soon, arrogant or embarrassed silence will no longer be enough. What is needed is the truth - the whole truth - about an iniquitous violation of Italy’s sovereignty. Gianni Riotta griotta@corriere.it English translation by Giles Watson

posted by Tony @ Wednesday, July 06, 2005