23 Americans convincted for kidnapping in Italy

An Italian judge has convicted 23 Americans of the 2003 kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. His abduction was committed in an operation by the US' Central Intelligence Agency.

Twenty-two of the convicted Americans were immediately sentenced to five years in jail. The other convicted American, Milan CIA station chief Robert Seldon Lady, was given eight years.

Citing diplomatic immunity, Judge Oscar Magi acquitted three other Americans and five Italian defendants.

The CIA declined to comment on the case, and the Italian government denies any involvement. All of the Americans were tried in absentia.

The Egyptian cleric, Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, was kidnapped on February 17th, 2003, from a street in Milan. He was then transferred via air bases in Italy and Germany to Egypt, where he claims he was tortured. He has since been released, but was not permitted to leave Egypt to attend the trial.

The trial is the first by any government to scrutinize the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, which is sanctioned in the name of "the war on terror", but is charged with torturing prisoners by human rights advocates.