It's very strange that our ministry refused to cooperate with this request.
The system of telephone intercepts without controls is unacceptable.
(We) await the response from U.S. authorities over the request to question all of those under investigation.
Kidnapping Abu Omar was not only a crime against the state of Italy, but also it did great damage to the war on terrorism. We could have continued the investigation and found evidence on other people. He would be on trial by now.
There is no consular immunity that would prevent a trial from going ahead. A trial can even be held in absentia.
Obviously the law allows for the minister to reject this, so this is legitimate. This decision has arrived five months after the first request. But at least now we have a decision.
According to our criminal code, someone who helps other people to escape, when there's a warrant or the possibility of a warrant, is responsible for a crime.
