Italy verdict nears on CIA

AN Italian judge yesterday began deliberating the fate of 26 Americans and seven Italians charged with kidnapping an Egyptian terror suspect in 2003, as the first trial in the world involving the CIA's extraordinary rendition program drew to a close.

After nearly three years of hearings, Judge Oscar Magi heard the last rebuttals before beginning deliberations. A verdict - expected later in the day - will be the first legal appraisal of the CIA's program to abduct suspected terror suspects and transfer them to third countries for interrogation.

The American suspects - all but one identified by prosecutors as CIA agents - are being tried in absentia and are considered fugitives. Their lawyers, most of whom have had no contact with their clients, have entered innocent pleas on their behalf and argued for their acquittals.

The Americans are accused of kidnapping Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, on Febuary 17, 2003 from a street in Milan, then transferring him by van to the Aviano Air Base in northern Italy, where he was put on a plane and taken to Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany. He was then moved to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. He has since been released, but has not been permitted to leave Egypt to attend the trial.

The trial is the first by any government to scrutinize the CIA's extraordinary rendition program, which human rights advocates charge was the CIA's way to outsource the torture of prisoners to countries where it is practiced.

The Milan proceedings have been a sore spot in relations between the United States and Italy. The CIA has declined to comment on the case, and Italy's government has denied involvement.

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