Spy chief in Italy could face charges
By Ian Fisher and Elisabetta Povoledo International Herald Tribune, The New York Times
Published: October 23, 2006
ROME The secret American program of abducting suspected terrorists looks set to claim an unintended victim. Nicolò Pollari, Italy's top spy, is expected to be replaced in the coming days, and besides that, prosecutors say they intend to seek his indictment on charges connected to the "rendition" of a militant Egyptian cleric from Milan in 2003.
The case in Italy is the first in which government officials have been charged, essentially, with cooperating with the United States to violate their own laws. And if Pollari is indicted, he would be, by far, the most prominent official charged in connection with the scores of abductions of suspected terrorists around the world since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The practical impact of the case on the rendition program is not clear: Some experts say the program had already languished after disclosures last year that some abductees ended up in secret prisons, where they were tortured.
But any trial, especially of as prominent an official as Pollari, could shed uncomfortable light on the program itself and on how American allies cooperated in one of the most contentious tactics in the Bush administration's fight against terror
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