The trial began June 8 of 26 Americans and six Italians who stand accused in absentia in Italy of kidnapping an Egyptian terror suspect [Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr AKA Abu Omar], and dispatching him to Egypt, where he is said to have been tortured. Most of the Americans in the "extraordinary rendition" proceedings are thought to be CIA agents. Italy has not said whether it will seek the suspects' extradition to the Milan trial, yet Washington has already refused to do so. [BBC, June 8]

The European human rights monitoring group, the Council of Europe, has confirmed the existence of clandestine CIA detention facilities in Poland and Romania, which housed leading members of al-Qaeda between 2003 and 2005. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was among those detained. [NYT, June 8]

From Madird11.net Security Briefs, June 8

See our last posts on Italy, the torture/detainment scandal, and the secret CIA archipelgo.