With Coalition (of the Willing) Friends Like This...

I guess its time to start renaming the food again...let's see...Lasagna=Patriot Pasta?

An Italian judge has ordered the arrest of 13 operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency accused of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric on a Milan street two years ago and sending him to a prison in Egypt for questioning, Italian prosecutors and investigators said today.

Judge Chiara Nobili of Milan signed the arrest warrants on Thursday for 13 people the documents identified as C.I.A. operatives suspected of seizing the radical imam Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, as he walked to his mosque here for noon prayers on Feb. 17, 2003.

His family says that he has been tortured by his Egyptian captors.

Investigators said the court documents, which remain under seal, identify the 13 operatives by their real names as well as their cover names. In the warrants, Judge Nobili said that all 13 suspects were linked to the C.I.A. and that several served as diplomats at the United States Consulate in Milan, investigators said...

The existence of the arrest warrants was disclosed today by the Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and Il Giorno. Several senior Italian investigators said they believed the 13 American operatives, 3 said to be women, had left Italy. If arrested and brought to trial, the operatives would face charges of criminal kidnapping.

The rendered individual, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, is suspected of serious terrorist activity--US and Italian officials say he is an Al Qaeda supporting jihadist who fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia. However, it appears there won't be a public trial where evidence of his activities could be presented, because Nasr, after being severely tortured in Egypt, was rearrested by Egyptian police--and his whereabouts are no longer known.

By the way--the US action disrupted efforts by the Italian police to "identify his connection to a terror network believed to have active operations throughout Europe." Way to go, guys (and women).

Hmmm...Pesto=Old Glory Garlic and Basil Sauce?