The Guardian: The US broke Italian law by kidnapping Egyptian cleric

"Italy's relations with the US took a further blow yesterday when Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government said it was summoning the American ambassador in Rome to explain the disappearance of a radical Muslim cleric, who was snatched from a Milan street two years ago,: The UK's The Guardian reported yesterday.

The Guradian reported that "Carlo Giovanardi, Mr Berlusconi's minister for relations with parliament, categorically denied that the government had been told in advance by Washington of a plan to seize Mr Nasr. In statements to both houses of the Italian legislature, he said the reported operation was 'never brought to the attention of the government of the republic or national institutions', a term that appeared to include Italy's intelligence agencies."

"The minister said a report from the US that claimed that the CIA had briefed and sought approval from Italian intelligence was 'false and without any foundation'," the Guradian reported.

The Guardian added "Italian investigators have stressed that Mr Nasr, the alleged leader in Italy of a component group of al-Qaida, was considered a highly dangerous suspect. But they insist that he should have been pursued by legal and constitutional means."