Panama detains fomer CIA Office

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
Let's drag some Bush-era shit back out into the sunshine.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...01dc04-efcf-11e2-8c36-0e868255a989_story.html


Panama holds ex-CIA Milan officer in case of kidnapping, torture of Muslim cleric

PANAMA CITY — A former CIA base chief convicted in the 2003 abduction of a terror suspect from an Italian street has been detained in Panama after Italy requested his arrest in one of the most notorious episodes of the U.S. program known as extraordinary rendition, Italian and Panamanian officials said Thursday.

Robert Seldon Lady, the former CIA chief in Milan, entered Panama, crossed the border into Costa Rica and was sent back to Panama where he was detained, according to an Italian official familiar with Italy’s investigation of the rendition of Cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case.

A Panamanian National Police official said Lady, 59, had been detained Wednesday on the Costa Rica-Panama border. The official also spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to discuss the matter.

The government of Panama, which maintains one of the region’s closest relationships with the U.S., was officially silent on the case. Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino told The Associated Press that he was unaware of Lady’s detention and the press office of the National Police — which works with Interpol, the international police agency — said it had no information. The CIA also declined to comment.

Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was hustled into a car in February 2003 on a street in Milan, where he preached, and transferred to U.S. military bases in Italy and Germany before being flown to Egypt. He alleged he was tortured in Egypt before being released.

Italy conducted an aggressive investigation and charged 26 CIA and other U.S. government employees despite objections from Washington. All left Italy before charges were filed in the first trial in the world involving the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program, under which terror suspects were abducted and transferred to third countries where many were subjected to torture.

All the U.S. suspects were eventually convicted but only Lady received a sentence — nine years in prison — that merited an extradition request under Italian legal guidelines. Two former Italian spy chiefs were also convicted this year for their role in the cleric’s kidnapping.

The case caused tensions between Rome and Washington, two traditionally stalwart allies. In April, Italy’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, pardoned a U.S. Air Force colonel convicted in the rendition case, a move Napolitano hoped would keep American-Italian relations strong, especially on security matters.

Napolitano said he granted the pardon in hopes of resolving an affair that the United States considered unprecedented because a U.S. military officer for NATO had been convicted for deeds committed on Italian territory.

The colonel, Joseph Romano, was security chief of the Aviano air base in northern Italy, where Nasr was taken on his way to Egypt.

In issuing the pardon, Napolitano’s office said the president had taken into consideration the fact that Obama, immediately after his election, had put an end to George W. Bush administration anti-terror practices that both Italy and the European Union considered to be “not compatible with fundamental principles of rule of law.”

Lady, who was born in Honduras, left Italy early into the Italian investigation of the abduction. He also retired from the CIA. Interpol had issued a request for Lady’s arrest, reflecting Italy’s determination to get him back.

“U.S. officials who have thus far evaded any accountability for their role in a global torture program should take today’s development as a warning sign,” the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which has fought U.S. counter-terror programs such as extraordinary renditions and detention at Guantanamo Bay, said in an emailed statement.

Italy and Panama have no extradition treaty, Italian diplomats said, but Panama would be free to send Lady to Italy if it wanted.

Italy only allows extradition to be requested for people who have been sentenced to more than four years in prison.

A 2006 amnesty in Italy shaves three years off all sentences meted out by Italian courts, meaning if Lady is brought back to Italy, he would face six years in prison.
 

Philbert

Banned
Italian Justice...like military intelligence, jumbo shrimp, and same difference...2 words that don't really go together.

Finest officials that money can buy...
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
Italian Justice...like military intelligence, jumbo shrimp, and same difference...2 words that don't really go together.

Finest officials that money can buy...

Nice dismissal, but unintentionally illustrates the point.
 

Philbert

Banned
Nice dismissal, but unintentionally illustrates the point.

Sorry to hear that you think you made a point...cut 'n' paste is somebody else's point...what I said is merely dismissive of anything Italy says or does about the "Legality" of anything.
They are tiny players in a big game, no one cares what they really do.
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
Sorry to hear that you think you made a point...cut 'n' paste is somebody else's point...what I said is merely dismissive of anything Italy says or does about the "Legality" of anything.
They are tiny players in a big game, no one cares what they really do.

Note, dumbass, I said 'the' point, not 'my' point. You really are stupid.
 

Philbert

Banned
Note, dumbass, I said 'the' point, not 'my' point. You really are stupid.


You've tried that tack so many times, and you never get anywhere with it. You'll need to actually be smarter.

Check in with Lickingdick and his newest bud Raimmi, they think they have a method to crush me.
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
You've tried that tack so many times, and you never get anywhere with it. You'll need to actually be smarter.

Check in with Lickingdick and his newest bud Raimmi, they think they have a method to crush me.

Do you ever bore yourself? Because you bore everyone else to tears.
 

Mr. Daystar

In a bell tower, watching you through cross hairs.
So, he got caught...you can't honestly believe this shit doesn't happen EVERY DAY. Why do you think we like Israel so much? A Mossad agent would would torture his own mother.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. I don't know that I'm against it in every case.
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
So, he got caught...you can't honestly believe this shit doesn't happen EVERY DAY. Why do you think we like Israel so much? A Mossad agent would would torture his own mother.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. I don't know that I'm against it in every case.

Of course it happens every day, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, who gives a shit, right?
 

Mr. Daystar

In a bell tower, watching you through cross hairs.
Of course it happens every day, Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, who gives a shit, right?

It's not that I can say, who gives a shit...but sometimes I can't give a shit. Sometimes I think some of these fuckers are getting just what they deserve.
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
It's not that I can say, who gives a shit...but sometimes I can't give a shit. Sometimes I think some of these fuckers are getting just what they deserve.

By proxy we're getting what we deserve for electing them. Some days I can't give a shit either, it's just too fucking much.
 

georges

Moderator
Staff member
So, he got caught...you can't honestly believe this shit doesn't happen EVERY DAY. Why do you think we like Israel so much? A Mossad agent would would torture his own mother.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. I don't know that I'm against it in every case.

The mossad and the shaback are among the most efficient and most trained agents in Israel
 

Philbert

Banned
Do you ever bore yourself? Because you bore everyone else to tears.

Of course not...I have you to cover that.

I do like hearing I make you cry...that's a plus.
Misfire, you are a major pussy. For true.
 
GW got my vote for the first term, but not the second term. Too much of this BS going on. I'd like to think that the Constitution means something. Seems like president after president simply ignore what they want for their own gain. I want an idealist.

I'm tired of after the last 21 years, having to decide between the lesser of who cares. (apologies to Leo McGarry) I'm tired of the people who blindly defend their "guy" who isn't up to the task and just attack the other "guy" to score points.

I'm beginning to get back on the band wagon of "vote the bums out". The response is always "You don't know who they will be running against" Who gives a rat. I don't want to see the current president's gang in office, I don't want to see the previous president's gang in office...they haven't been up to the challenge in the last 20 years any way. So, give me fresh blood, give me an idealist.

Good for you, x. GW's numbers are rising. Remind people of this crap.
The current debacle's are in front of our face, so we should all be pissed about those, too.

I'll give 42 some credit. He knew enough when to do nothing.


(I feel like the next line should be....I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more! ;) )
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
GW got my vote for the first term, but not the second term. Too much of this BS going on. I'd like to think that the Constitution means something. Seems like president after president simply ignore what they want for their own gain. I want an idealist.

I'm tired of after the last 21 years, having to decide between the lesser of who cares. (apologies to Leo McGarry) I'm tired of the people who blindly defend their "guy" who isn't up to the task and just attack the other "guy" to score points.

I'm beginning to get back on the band wagon of "vote the bums out". The response is always "You don't know who they will be running against" Who gives a rat. I don't want to see the current president's gang in office, I don't want to see the previous president's gang in office...they haven't been up to the challenge in the last 20 years any way. So, give me fresh blood, give me an idealist.

Good for you, x. GW's numbers are rising. Remind people of this crap.
The current debacle's are in front of our face, so we should all be pissed about those, too.

I'll give 42 some credit. He knew enough when to do nothing.


(I feel like the next line should be....I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more! ;) )

If there were a viable third party I would be interested. I'll never vote for the current GOP's social conservative agenda, that's really the sticking point to me.
 
If there were a viable third party I would be interested. I'll never vote for the current GOP's social conservative agenda, that's really the sticking point to me.

Don't blame you. Not one bit. Off the freakin' rails.

We disagree on my next comment - I feel the same about the Democrats too.

I don't need a "viable" third party since I don't consider the two major parties viable.

Guess the NY heat wave has me cranky today.
 

xfire

New Twitter/X @cxffreeman
Don't blame you. Not one bit. Off the freakin' rails.

We disagree on my next comment - I feel the same about the Democrats too.

I don't need a "viable" third party since I don't consider the two major parties viable.

Guess the NY heat wave has me cranky today.

I can't argue that the democrats have their own off the rails social agenda, that's absolutely true, as is the point about the two major parties being completely insolvent. Can't complain too much about the heat so far this summer. We've only seen about a dozen days of 100+ weather. The last three days have been overcast and rainy, I'm hoping the rest of the summer stays that way.
 
I can't argue that the democrats have their own off the rails social agenda, that's absolutely true, as is the point about the two major parties being completely insolvent. Can't complain too much about the heat so far this summer. We've only seen about a dozen days of 100+ weather. The last three days have been overcast and rainy, I'm hoping the rest of the summer stays that way.

I'll admit...when it comes to the heat I'm a wuss! Sounds like you can take it better than me. I'm a bit jealous. I melt. As I've gotten older I just screw the environment up more with air conditioning every thing. Mea culpa! :)
 
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