Free Republic

Italy probes possible CIA role in abduction By John Crewdson (Chicago) Tribune senior correspondent An Italian prosecutor investigating the apparent kidnapping of a suspected Islamic militant in the streets of Milan served military authorities this week with a demand for records of flights into and out of a joint U.S.-Italian air base in northern Italy. Italian newspapers have reported that the prosecutor, Armando Spataro, is investigating the possible role of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the disappearance of Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan, better known as Abu Omar, a popular figure in Milan's Islamic community who vanished Feb. 17, 2003....

KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to hand over the custody of Abu Omar, one of al-Qaeda militants nabbed from Gulshan-e-Maymar on Thursday, to the United States in a day or two, while his wife and three sons are likely to be flown to Morocco - their homeland - on Saturday. Highly placed sources disclosed this on Friday. "We have completed our investigations and are now satisfied that Abu Omar was not involved in any subversive activity in Pakistan," said a senior intelligence official, who wished not to be named. He said: "The investigations revealed that Abu Omar was trying to...