Cleric Says CIA Agents Tortured Him

Egyptian cleric Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr, known as Abu Omar, 44, shows a dark scar on his arm during his first public appearance since he was released from Egyptian custody last week, at a court house in Alexandria, Egypt Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. An Egyptian cleric allegedly kidnapped by CIA agents off the streets of an Italian city and taken to Egypt said Thursday he was tortured in an Egyptian prison and that he wants to return to Italy. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (Nasser Nasser - AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- An Egyptian cleric, speaking publicly for the first time, said Thursday that Egyptian officials tortured him in prison after he was kidnapped in Italy _ allegedly by CIA agents _ and sent here for interrogation.

The claims by Osama Hassan Mustafa Nasr sharpened the controversy over the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, just days after Italy indicted 26 Americans and five Italian agents accused of seizing him.

The case is the first criminal trial connected to the rendition policy, in which U.S. agents secretly transferred terror suspects for interrogation to third countries where critics say they faced torture.

Italy has signaled it won't seek the extradition of the 25 CIA agents and one U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, but it will likely try them in absentia. From the outset, U.S. officials have declined comment on the case.

Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, showed up unexpectedly Thursday at the trial of an Egyptian blogger in this Mediterranean coastal city _ his first public appearance since he was released Feb. 11 after four years in Egyptian custody.

"I was subjected to the worst kind of torture in Egyptian prisons. I have scars of torture all over my body," Nasr told journalists outside the trial, which is unrelated to his case.

The 44-year-old bearded Muslim preacher showed dark, circular scars on his wrists and ankles that he said were from electrical shocks by Egyptian interrogators. He said he also has scars on his stomach and other areas but was embarrassed to show them in a public place.

He expressed fears that Egyptian security services would re-arrest him for speaking out. "I could be arrested the moment I leave here," Nasr said.

"I don't want trouble with anyone anymore. My body cannot bear any more prison and torture," he said.

Nasr's case has given a rare look into the renditions program.

Italian prosecutors say Nasr _ suspected of recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes _ was kidnapped from the streets of Milan in February 2003 by CIA agents with help from Italian agents. He was allegedly taken to Aviano Air Base near Venice, then to Ramstein Air Base in southern Germany, and finally to Egypt.

U.S. officials said in December 2005 that up to 150 terror suspects had been seized and flown to their homelands for interrogation under the renditions program.