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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Italian President Pardons CIA Kidnappers<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Italy's president bowed to U.S. pressure by pardoning two CIA agents found guilty of abducting a Muslim cleric.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Italy pardoned two former CIA agents on Wednesday convicted of a kidnapping in Italy that led to the rendition and alleged torture of an Egyptian man.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The CIA's former Milanese station chief Robert Seldon Lady and another U.S. national, Bernie Medero, were pardoned by President Sergio Mattarella for their role in the 2003 kidnapping.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>More than 20 CIA agents were convicted in absentia, with Lady facing the longest prison term of nine years.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>None of the agents ever served any time behind bars, though Lady and others risked arrest under international warrants if they traveled to Europe. Lady himself was temporarily detained in Panama in 2013 over the conviction, but fled the country before Italian authorities could process an extradition request.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>RELATED: CIA Torture Report: Where Are the Children? <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The presidential pardon means Medero can now travel freely to Europe, though an Italian official told Reuters that Lady could still risk arrest in the European Union as his pardon only reduced his sentence from nine years to just two..<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The convictions against Lady, Medero and others in Italy were the first of their kind against CIA agents involved in Washington's extraordinary rendition program. The controversial program saw hundreds of suspected militants kidnapped by the CIA, transported to secretive prison sites and tortured. Many of the victims had no ties to extremist groups and the program was widely condemned by human rights groups.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Rendition was officially shelved in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>The CIA agents in Italy were found guilty of kidnapping Egyptian imam Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, better known as Abu Omar.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Abu Omar was abducted by the CIA in 2003, and later held in a site in Egypt. The imam has alleged he was tortured during his seven months in captivity. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: <br> <a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Italian-President-Pardons-CIA-Kidnappers-20151224-0001.html"><span style='color:blue'>"http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Italian-President-Pardons-CIA-Kidnappers-20151224-0001.html"</span></a>. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>