U.S. invokes jurisdiction in CIA kidnap case

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has moved to formally shield from conviction one of the 26 Americans on trial in Italy on charges he helped the CIA kidnap a terrorism suspect in 2003, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Washington invoked jurisdiction in the case against Colonel Joseph Romano under a NATO agreement that applies to suspected crimes overseas by military personnel performed "in the course of official duty," Defense Department spokesman Commander Bob Mehal told Reuters.

Romano is among the Americans on trial in Milan accused of grabbing Imam Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, off a Milan street, driving him to the Aviano military base in northern Italy and flying him to Egypt. It was the first time the United States formally stepped into the case to shield any of the American suspects from prosecution.

Nasr said he was tortured in Egypt under questioning and held for years without charge. The politically charged trial is the most closely watched case in Europe on secret U.S. transfers, known as "renditions."

None of the Americans is in Italy for the trial and the United States has ruled out extraditing them.

more:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE58M5YO20090923