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Giuliana Sgrena on the Ouster of Italy's Intelligence Chief
for Involvement in CIA Kidnapping of Sheikh
William Lee Brent 1930-2006: A 1998 Conversation in Havana
with the Former Black Panther on His Plane Hijacking, Life
in Cuba and Much More
Will You Die With Me? My Life and the Black Panther Party
Giuliana Sgrena on the Ouster of Italy's Intelligence
Chief for Involvement in CIA Kidnapping of Sheikh
Italy's chief of military intelligence has been dismissed
for allegedly helping the CIA kidnap an Islamic cleric off
the streets of Milan three years ago. We go to Rome to speak
with Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist with the Italian newspaper
Il Manifesto. She made international headlines last year when
she herself was kidnapped in Iraq and nearly died when U.S.
forces opened fire on the car she was riding in after her
release.[includes rush transcript]
Italy's chief of military intelligence has been dismissed
for allegedly helping the CIA kidnap an Islamic cleric off
the streets of Milan three years ago.
Nicolo Pollari became the highest-level official anywhere
in the world to lose his job for having a role in the secretive
U.S. program known as extraordinary rendition. The Italian
government initially claimed it did not know of the CIA plans
to seize Abu Omar, but evidence has since emerged that indicate
Italian agents collaborated with the CIA.
Twenty-six CIA agents are already facing a possible trial
in Italy for carrying out the kidnapping.
British journalist Stephen Grey wrote about the kidnapping
in his book, "Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA
Torture Program." He recently described what happened
to Abu Omar during an interview on Democracy Now!
- Stephen Grey: "He was snatched off the streets and
taken in a series of executive jets via Germany to a jail
cell in Cairo, where he says he was severely tortured. He
was released briefly, and he made a phone call back home
to his family in Milan and explained what had happened and
how he had been kidnapped. And because Italian police were
listening to that phone call, the story was revealed. He
was quickly re-arrested after making that call. Presumably
the Egyptians were listening, too. But that unlocked that
whole scandal in Italy. And the Italian prosecutors, who
believe that terrorists should be prosecuted in a court
of law, rather than being tortured in a jail cell in Egypt,
have pursued this case absolutely vigorously. And there's
going to be a trial very shortly of the CIA agents involved.
There are arrest warrants for them. None of them are being
caught. Perhaps they never will be, but there will be an
open trial, perhaps held in their absence, that's going
to take place in Italy and will expose further details of
this whole operation."
The developments in Italy come at a time when the U.S. practice
of extraordinary rendition is facing increased scrutiny.
Next week, the German citizen Khaled El-Masri plans to visit
Washington for the first time to discuss how CIA agents mistakenly
kidnapped him and took him to Afghanistan where he was tortured.
With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, El-Masri
is suing former CIA head George Tenet and other U.S. officials.
Meanwhile, the soon to be chair of the Senate Committee on
Armed Services - Carl Levin - has announced plans to thoroughly
review the CIA's rendition program. Levin said, "I'm
not comfortable with the system. I think that there's been
some significant abuses." Levin went on to say the program
needs a thorough scrubbing.
Giuliana Sgrena is a journalist with the Italian newspaper
Il Manifesto who has been following the rendition story closely.
Giuliana made international headlines last year when she herself
was kidnapped in Iraq and nearly died after U.S. forces opened
fire on the car she was riding in after her release. Her escort,
Major General Nicola Calipari - Italy's second highest-ranking
military intelligence officer - died in the shooting as he
tried to protect her. She wrote about her experience in the
book "Friendly Fire: The Remarkable Story of a Journalist
Kidnapped in Iraq."
- Giuliana Sgrena, journalist with the Italian newspaper
Il Manifesto and author of the book "Friendly Fire:
The Remarkable Story of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq."
William Lee Brent 1930-2006: A 1998 Conversation
in Havana with the Former Black Panther on His Plane Hijacking,
Life in Cuba and Much More
Former Black Panther William Lee Brent has died at the age
of 75. He made headlines in 1969 when he hijacked an Oakland
plane and ordered the pilot to fly to Cuba. He was imprisoned
in Cuba for two years and would go on to spend the rest of
his life there. In 1998, Amy Goodman traveled to Havana and
interviewed Brent. We play excerpts. [includes rush
transcript]
Former Black Panther William Lee Brent has died at the age
of 75. He made headlines in 1969 when he hijacked an Oakland
plane and ordered the pilot to fly to Cuba. He was imprisoned
in Cuba for two years and would go on to spend the rest of
his life there. Brent was the oldest member to join the Black
Panthers - his death comes 40 years after the group was founded.
Bill Brent rose to the rank of captain within the Black Panther
Party and served as a bodyguard for Eldridge Cleaver. In November
1968 he was arrested along with two other Panthers on charges
of robbing a gas station and shooting two police officers.
After being expelled from the party, he decided to make a
move to avoid trial.
The hijacking of TWA flight 154 took place on June 17, 1969.
After the plane landed in Havana, Bill Brent was left off
and the plane soon returned to the United States. No one was
injured in the incident.
Brent expected to be treated like a hero in Cuba but instead
he was jailed for 22 months on suspicion of being an American
spy. After his release he cut sugarcane and held jobs on a
hog farm as well and in a soap factory. He later became a
disc jockey on Radio Havana.
In 1996, he published his memoirs, titled, "Long Time
Gone: A Black Panther"s True-Life Story of His Hijacking
and Twenty-Five Years in Cuba."
In 1998, I traveled to Havana and had a chance to interview
Brent for our radio broadcast.
- William Lee Brent, interviewed by Amy Goodman in Havana
in 1998.
Will You Die With Me? My Life and the Black Panther
Party
Flores Forbes first joined the Black Panther Party when
he was 16 years old. He became the youngest member of the
Black Panther's Central Committee and ended up spending nearly
five years in prison for an attempted assassination. Flores
is now chief strategic officer of the Abyssinian Development
Corporation in Harlem. His new memoir is called "Will
You Die With Me? My Life and the Black Panther Party."
He joins us in our firehouse studio. [includes rush
transcript]
- Flores Forbes, author of "Will You Die With Me?
My Life and the Black Panther Party."
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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