CIA tortured me: Egyptian cleric

An Egyptian cleric today claimed the CIA “savagely” tortured him after he was allegedly kidnapped off the streets of Italy before being sent to Egypt for further interrogation.

Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr told TV station Al Jazeera that he “was savagely tortured by the CIA when kidnapped and during my deportation” to Egypt.

He did not provide any further details about the allegations during the live interview. The CIA has repeatedly declined to comment on the case.

The allegations by Mr Nasr, who also is known as Abu Omar, has sharpened the controversy over the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” programme.

Italy has indicted 26 Americans and five Italian agents accused of seizing Mr Nasr in 2003.

His case is the first criminal trial connected to the rendition policy, in which US agents secretly transferred terror suspects for interrogation to third countries where critics say they faced torture.

Mr Nasr was released from an Egyptian prison on February 11 after four years in Egyptian custody.

During the Al-Jazeera interview, Nasr, 44, did not discuss allegations he made last week that Egyptian authorities also tortured him while he was in prison here. But he told Al-Jazeera that he had tried to commit suicide while in Egyptian custody.

“Yes, this happened, but I didn’t do this out of my own will because I know what a grave sin it is to kill oneself,” the Muslim preacher said. “But I was pushed to do it. I was in a situation where I wasn’t able to distinguish between heaven and Earth.”

On Thursday, Mr Nasr expressed fears that Egyptian security services would arrest him for speaking out. The comments, in the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria, were his first public appearance since he was released from Egyptian custody.

Italian prosecutors say Nasr – suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes – was kidnapped from the streets of Milan in February 2003 by CIA agents, with help from Italian agents.

He was allegedly taken to Aviano air base near Venice, Ramstein air base in southern Germany, and then to Egypt for interrogation.

Italy has indicated it won’t seek extradition of the 25 CIA agents and one US Air Force lieutenant colonel, but it will likely try them in absentia. The US State Department said last week that the Bush administration has nothing more to say on Nasr’s case.

Italian prosecutor Armando Spataro said on Thursday that judicial authorities would like Nasr to testify in the case against the American and Italian agents.