In Italy, a judge has ruled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials can be called to testify on the CIA kidnapping of the Egyptian cleric Abu Omar. Omar was seized on the streets of Milan in 2003 and taken to US bases in Italy and Germany before being sent to Egypt. There, he says, he was tortured during a four-year imprisonment. Twenty-six Americans and five Italians have been indicted in the case. In Egypt, Abu Omar said Berlusconi should be held responsible.

Abu Omar: “I think, without a doubt, that Berlusconi knew about this case, because this case touched upon the sovereignty of Italy, and if the head of the Italian military intelligence services was involved, he takes his decisions with direct permission from the head of state. And according to the employment hierarchy, Berlusconi has direct responsibility for this matter on the basis that the head of intelligence is his direct subordinate.”

Berlusconi would become the first head of state to testify over the CIA’s kidnapping and torture program.