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Sabrina de Sousa is one of 26 people convicted by Italy in
absentia over the 2003 abduction of Egyptian cleric Hassan
Mustafa Osama Nasr, but the only one to spend any time in prison
for the operation, in which she denies involvement.
De Sousa was still due to carry out community service in Italy
until next year after the Italian president commuted her
four-year prison sentence but she decided to flee the country
after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and CIA Director Gina
Haspel visited Rome in October, Il Corriere said.
"I was terrified of the consequences that I could face," the
dual Portuguese-U.S. citizen was quoted as saying by the
newspaper.
"The arrival of Haspel in Italy confirmed to the Italian
government that the U.S. administration had washed its hands of
my case," she added, without elaborating.
Pompeo visited Italy at the beginning of October, while Haspel
met Italy's secret service heads in Rome on Oct. 9, according to
Italian media. So far, no connection between the meetings and
the De Sousa case has been reported.
Andrea Saccucci, an Italian lawyer who has submitted an appeal
to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of De Sousa,
confirmed on Sunday that his client had left Italy but could not
explain why De Sousa had returned to the United States despite
her fears about the U.S. administration.
"She only told me that she is now in the States," Saccucci told
Reuters.
Il Corriere quoted De Sousa as saying that "thanks to the recent
changes to the Whistleblower Act" she could reveal further
details on the case.
The kidnapping of Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was part of a
CIA "extraordinary rendition" program to snatch terrorism
suspects in various countries and transfer them in secret to
undergo interrogation in third countries.
The cleric said he was tortured after being transferred to Egypt
under the program, an aspect of President George W. Bush’s "war
on terror" that drew condemnation from human rights groups and
even some U.S. allies.
De Sousa has always claimed her innocence, saying she was not in
Milan on the day of the abduction and did not plan the kidnap.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Dale Hudson)
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