Ex-CIA spy admits to kidnapping Muslim cleric

Former US CIA agent Robert Seldon Lady has confessed to his role in the abduction of a Muslim Egyptian cleric for questioning. In an interview with the Italian Il Giornale newspaper, the former CIA operative admitted to his involvement in the 2003 kidnapping of Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr known as Abu Omar under the suspicion that he had links to 'terror' groups. The former US spy said that Abu Omar was temporarily held in US bases in Italy and Germany before being transferred to Egypt for interrogation. He acknowledged that Abu Omar had been tortured as part of CIA's 'rendition program' in Egypt before being released. The CIA launched the scheme in the aftermath of 9/11 in a bid to arrest dissidents viewed by the US as 'terrorists.' In his telephone interview from an undisclosed location, however, the former agent pleaded not guilty for the operation, which has prompted an Italian court to press charges against him in absentia. "I am not guilty. I am only responsible for following an order I received from my superiors," Lady said. "It was not a criminal act. It was a state affair." However, the ex-CIA operative conceded to having committed illegal acts, "I have worked in intelligence for 25 years, and almost none of my activities in these 25 years were legal in the country in which I was carrying them out," Il Giornale quoted him as saying. Lady and 25 of his accomplices are now being prosecuted in Milan for their role in the abduction of Abu Omar. The prosecution of a US spy is an unprecedented incident as no previous trials involving an American secret agent have been held before. The CIA has not commented on the latest development in the case.