Italy’s former top intelligence official has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the CIA’s kidnapping of an Islamic cleric.
The official, Nicolo Pollari, was convicted in the fallout over the abduction of Abu Omar from the streets of Milan in 2003. Omar was taken to U.S. bases in Italy and Germany before being sent to Egypt, where he suffered torture during a four-year imprisonment. Pollari will not have to serve jail time until his efforts for appeal are exhausted. His sentencing comes days after an Italian court gave the CIA’s former station chief a seven-year term in absentia. Twenty-five other Americans have also been convicted in the case, though the United States has rejected their extradition.